


Sweet Baby, Do Not Cry

by Ketakoshka



Series: Sweet Baby, Do Not Cry [1]
Category: Creepypasta - Fandom, Marble Hornets, Supernatural
Genre: As in Hell Michigain, Attempted Murder, Blood Magic, Cambian!Masky, Cannibalism, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Gen, Hell, Kidnapping, Leviathan!Toby, Leviathans, M/M, Multi, Multiple Personalities, Murder, Nightmares, Other, Suicide Attempt, Wakes & Funerals, Witches, hunters are assholes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-04-07 12:45:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 40
Words: 40,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4263723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ketakoshka/pseuds/Ketakoshka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a mirror hanging on the wall. I turn towards it and see myself without my mask. Where has it gone? My eyes are black though, and there's a smear of congealed blood across my lips, black in the gloomy light. My reflection grins. "All our fault," it whispers, and I can feel myself say those things. "This is what we were meant to be."</p><p>"Hello, son..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: My Name is Timothy Wright

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, but the idea... I would go into specifics, but too many characters, not enough time in the day.
> 
> This story has been plaguing me, and I just had to do it! Masky is my favorite Creepypasta of all time... Closely followed by Hoody and Toby. So there is a lot of love in this story for those characters.  
> Anyway, enjoy!

Sweet Baby, Do not Cry

Prologue: My Name is Timothy Wright

My mother named me Timothy Wright despite my father's opposition to it. She had wanted to name me that before she ever found out I was a boy. I think she was expecting to have a perfect little boy who would grow up to be a scholar or some other stupid thing. She even called me Timothy constantly despite it sounding foreign and awful out of her mouth… My father called me Timothy as well, but he was always talking like that.

He left us when I was three, right before I was diagnosed as a freak, nature's mistake.

My friend, the only friend I had in those days, called me Tim, and for the first time in my life, I felt like a normal person. That was Brian.

We met in the hospital where I spent the majority of my childhood. He had broken his arm when he fell off of a ladder; no one knows what he was doing up there, but I was happy that he did. I was alone all of the time, until he showed up. He was a little odd too, but his family called it an imagination while mine chalked it up to my brain's problems…

Even as I grew up, Brian was a constant. It was he who would cradle my head when a seizure sent me to the ground, incapable of even telling him how sorry I am for worrying him. When the hospital burnt down and my mother finally sent me to school, he was the one who sat with me at lunch and made me feel like one of them, but not…

I knew I wasn't like the little mimics that pretended to be their parents. They were all perfectly normal.

I'm not normal… Not just because I'm a psychopath with a second side that takes over me when I'm stupid enough to give in. Not just because I was quarantined in a little room as a child. Not just because a demon has taken over my life and taken everyone I ever came to care for away. He took everyone but Brian… I guess I should be grateful for that…

But I'm not like the other proxies… I never have been, and I can't start now.


	2. My Mother is a Liar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't realize by the end of this chapter, I really like Toby, and I hate how negatively people paint him. So there shall be no Toby bashing from me. Even if he can be an ass sometimes.

Chapter 1: My Mother is a Liar

**_We fought to rule the world_ **

**_Not knowing just how fragile we really were_ **

**_Like it was the first day of the rest of our lives_ **

**_Then the bricks began to fall_ **

**_And we could see the cracks along the wall_ **

**_We didn't know it couldn't go on forever_ **

**_-Broken Glass (Three Days Grace)_ **

"Is it wrong of me to consider you a friend?"

Even though my eyes are closed, I know that look on Jay's face. It's one part hopeful moron and one part kicked puppy, and I've seen it too many times. It's cute and weird all at once. "No, it's not," I answer him and wait for him to sit on the bed next to me; we're sharing one in this motel because it was the last available room.

"Why?" he asks and lays down beside me.

"Because I consider you to be my friend."

"Really?"

I chuckle. "Yeah, you idiot. Why else would I put up with you?"

"Because I'm awesome."

There's a shift in the air, and I can smell decay. "Jay?" My hands are sticky; is that blood?

* * *

My eyes snap open, and I sit up quickly, my hand to my chest as it heaves for breath. I grit my teeth and glances over at the closet where I know that damned camera sits, and I toss the blankets over to the other side of the bed to walk over to the doors; I have to make sure that it's still there. It's in a large cardboard box filled with the other things that bring back unwanted memories, and for the thousandth time, I think about setting it all on fire. Pictures of the Marble Hornets cast and crew, tapes of Jay and me, my ukulele that survived the destruction of my house: all of the things I can't bring myself to rid of are there, staring back at me with a silent dare. 'Forget us,' they say, 'and you will never be a real person again… Always that thing in the back of your head… Always a monster…'

A knock on my bedroom door draws my attention away, and so, I shut those things away and answer the door to find Toby on the outside. "What's wrong?" I ask, but I can see the shaking in the teenager's shoulders and can hear the storm raging outside. "Come on. Let's go to bed."

* * *

My alarm goes off at seven, prompting me to wake the slumbering brunette that's in my arms. Without his mouth guard and goggles on, he seems almost vulnerable, like he would break if I stopped holding him, but I know better than that. Toby isn't the same scared little kid that he was when Slender brought him home. All that remains of that terrified and shocked child are the moments when a thunderstorm turns him into a trembling mass that seeks out the comfort of his older 'brother'.

"Sorry I woke you up last night," he murmurs and rolls out of bed, rubbing his eyes as he does.

"You didn't wake me," I reply and do the same, heading to my bathroom instead of the door to the hallway. He doesn't say anything, just shoots me a knowing look and disappears through the threshold.

* * *

Hoody's waiting for me when I leave the room. He's perched up on the banister with my jacket held in his left hand that he holds out to me. "You left this in my room yesterday."

"I was looking for that!" It's comfortable around my shoulders, the same jacket I had worn since moving out of my mother's house, and I'm grateful for my best friend's thoughtfulness. "You're awesome." He leaps down and grabs my arm then, and we walk downstairs, happy to hear no sound of the others in the kitchen and living room below.

"You're a little quieter than normal," he whispers. "Did you have another nightmare?"

"Yeah…"

"It was about Jay, wasn't it?"

"Isn't it always…" I don't feel like saying anything more, and thankfully, he realizes that. My skin feels too tight today, like something's trying to claw its way out by any means necessary, and I just want to crawl back into bed. I won't sleep though, not as well as I did before this all started when I was just Tim and Hoody was just Brian.

* * *

The morgue is cold and still as I walk down the hall. I can see my breath and feel the icy chill permeate my jacket's warmth, and I cough, feeling a wetness on my lips. My footsteps echo in a clockwork beat, am I limping? My leg aches and is stiff. Is it broken?

In the center room, there are tables with covered corpses, six of them. I walk towards them, not of my own accord and uncover them one by one. Let me see their faces... Let it not be them. Sarah. Alex. Seth. Amy. Jessica... But she was alive when I left her... Perhaps not now.

My hands shake, and I uncover the last, so pale but just the same as ever... Asleep... Jay.

And there's a mirror hanging on the wall. I turn towards it and see myself without my mask. Where has it gone? My eyes are black though, and there's a smear of congealed blood across my lips, black in the gloomy light. My reflection grins.

 _"_ _All our fault,"_ it whispers, and I can feel myself say those things. _"_ _This is what we were meant to be… Don't you see that? We aren't like them. Never like them… Not like those nasty people who looked down on us."_

I recognize that voice. It's sour and poisonous, sticking to me like the tar in my cigarettes. It's the voice in the back of my head, always there, always saying things that I don't want it to say and hurting the people I want to protect the most.

_"_ _You killed them."_

"Shut up!" My fist collides with the mirror, and I wake to the sound of shattering glass.

* * *

There's fragments of glass everywhere. They crunch beneath my bare feet as I walk into the bathroom where the only mirror still stands. It's fractured with pieces missing, but they're still there. I have to see… Something is wrong. I know it.

My eyes are black, and a tail wraps around my leg protectively.


	3. My Father is Fergus Crowley

Chapter 2: My Father is Fergus Crowley

**_An eel lives in her lungs_ **

**_On my forehead, a birthmark_ **

**_Remove it with the kiss of a knife_ **

**_Even if it causes me to bleed to death_ **

**_Mother_ **

**_Oh give me strength_ **

**_-Mutter (Rammstein)_ **

There's a knock on my door, and it opens without my permission. Only one person would do that, Hoody. "Hey," he says, confirming my thoughts, and he sits next to me so he can ruffle my hair in that affectionate way that normally makes me grin so much that my face hurts. "The Operator wants to know why you haven't come down for breakfast yet."

"Tell him that I'm not feeling well." I bury my face further into my pillow, willing him not to see, not the pitch of my eyes nor the shift of my restless tail under the blankets.

"And when I come back you'll tell me what's really wrong?" I should know better than to even hope that he would leave me be. I'm rarely sick enough that it interferes with my duties anymore… Not since I stopped fighting with him… "I'll be right back." I don't say a word, just listen to his footsteps leading away from me.

In the silence that follows, I dare to look into a mirror shard that I had taken to bed with me. I guess that I'm hoping that it's just a hallucination, despite proving that wrong eighteen times already, and again, it's not a figment of my overactive mind. "Goddamit… What the hell did I do to deserve this?" When I hear him come back, I shove the glass shard into a drawer and cover my face once more, and the door opens and shuts once more behind him.

"Alright," Brian whispers, and he walks over to my side once more. I can feel his eyes burning holes in my blankets, and I have to fight the urge to throw them off and stare back. "What's wrong?"

In an attempt to change the conversation, I quickly ask, "is the Operator satisfied?"

"He said that you should concentrate on getting better. He was going to ask you to 'babysit' for a couple of hours."

I almost chuckle at the word babysit; I know that I'm one of the eldest, but that's got to be insulting for the others. "So he's going out for a bit?" I murmur.

"Yeah, for about a week." I breathe a sigh of relief that, despite my prayers to a deity I'm certain doesn't exist, Hoody hears. "Now, what's wrong?"

"You have to promise not to say a word about this to anyone else…"

"What?" After a moment, he overcomes his confusion. "Whatever it is, you know I won't do anything to hurt you." I can't help it; I scoff, remembering when he used to steal my meds, and it makes him sigh. "Not anymore."

Before I can even muster the courage to uncover my face, he does it for me, and he gasps, taking a step backwards. Scared, my tail wraps around his wrist, trapping him, and I cry, "Hoody, you have to help me hide this!"

"Tim, how?"

"I don't know what happened… I just woke up this way… "

Once my newfound appendage lets go, he takes another step back, swearing and muttering under his breath. He stops though when he hears the unmistakable sound of cracking glass beneath his shoes, and he looks down at the ground where a few pieces I had missed while cleaning up still remain. He quickly looks around for the source of the fragments, only for his eyes to widen. "Where did all of your glass things go?"

"They're broken," I reply. "That happened last night too. I don't know how."

"We have to tell Slender," he says, and I find myself shaking my head fervently.

"What if he decides that I'm no use to him and… and…"

"He won't kill you," Brian says and lays a hand on my shoulder. "All of the things that you do for him. You're too valuable… Now, let's go downstairs and get you something to eat. Then I'll go into town, and Toby will keep you company. Okay?"

* * *

Asking Toby to distract me is both a grand and idiotic idea.

It's grand because he can be a gigantic asshole. And annoying… And occasionally, really weird. This is the reason people try to avoid him, and so, the moment he attaches himself to me, the others disappear, even LJ. I know the monochrome clown would have preferred to eat breakfast with me, but he knows he'll fight with the brunette. They can be quite vicious to one another, and they don't seem to care what they're saying… Not that they're the only two to do this to each other. I'll willingly get into a fight with Jeff just to make him leave me alone.

It's idiotic because he can be a gigantic asshole. And annoying… And occasionally, really weird. This is the reason why I often, well not as often as the others, yell at him to shut up. He enjoys the negative attention though, making it so much easier just to avoid him… I was looking forward to breakfast too… Laughing Jack just came home. He was going to tell me all about his adventures…

I could use that right now.

"Hey, Masky?"

Toby's voice startles me out of my thoughts, and I look over at him to see concern on his face. He doesn't have his mask on again. That's how I know we're alone. "Hmm?"

"Why were you crying last night?"

I look at him with surprise, and I rack my memory for doing that. Did I cry in my sleep? It wouldn't be the first time. "I was?"

My reply doesn't appease his worries, but before he can say anything else, Hoody comes in through the door. "Masky, there's a letter for you."

"Is it from Mom?" I can't help the thrill that runs through me. I'm the only one who still talks to their parents… That's the small price to pay for my loyalty, and Slender is willing to pay it as long as I keep our secrets just that.

"No," Brian replies, and I can't help the wonder as he hands it to me. Who else would ever try to talk to me?

_Dear Mr. Wright,_

_I'm sorry about interrupting your time to grieve, but I have sent this letter to invite you to the reading of Janet Wright's will on the second to last day of this month. You are one of four people who was mentioned in it, and in order to collect the things she wanted for you to have, you must be present at one hearing._

_If you wish to have a private reading, I advise you to call as soon as possible._

_Regards,_

_Carmine Tanny_

I bite my lip and will myself not to cry. When did she die? "I need a phone," I whisper.


	4. My Confident is a Psychopath

Chapter 3: My Confident is a Psychopath

**_Discomfort, endlessly has pulled itself upon me_ **

**_Distracting, reacting_ **

**_Against my will I stand beside my own reflection_ **

**_It's haunting how I can't seem._ **

**_To find myself again_ **

**_-Crawling (Linkin Park)_ **

My mother has been dead for four days when I walk into Tanny's office, leaving Hoody in the reception room to stare out of the window with a hint of awkwardness and worry. I had told him to stay home alone but he refused, telling me that he wouldn't feel at ease if I went alone. He said: 'what if your family is there? What if they see your recent changes? What if they tell someone, the wrong people?' I cannot deny his logic, and so I leave him there, sitting alone and staring out at the world we had distanced ourselves from.

He is an odd fellow with dark eyes and a receding hairline that skitters about with little direction or thought. He reminds me of my mother in that way, and so I pay it no mind when he becomes so distracted with the things he must do to close the matters of her estate that he forgets twice where he set her will. But his distraction is good. He doesn't ask about my obscured face, and he won't see my eyes.

"Oh, here it is!" he cries and quickly sets down at his desk. "Alright, so in the terms here it says that "My son, Timothy Wright shall inherit a trust fund containing $30,000, a separate amount to buy a ticket to Hell, Michigan, and lastly a trunk that contains pictures of our family, a book, and a letter that must be read as soon as you are alone or in trustworthy company. It will explain your current predicament as I know that I will never bring myself to do it in person."

Once he finishes, Tanny runs off to fetch the trunk, handing me a brass key beforehand. When he returns, he passes it off to me and says that the money is inside, cash of course, kept from greedy relatives that are angered by her gifts to me and not to them. Hoody takes the trunk from me, and we disappear into the woods not far from Tanny's building before returning home.

* * *

When I open the trunk, I pass the money to my partner who stashes it in the closet and take out the letter with great care. It's older than I would have suspected, yellowed slightly around the edges. It crinkles loudly in my hands, and I grip it tightly, immediately feeling her dry wit come out to make me smile.

_Hello, son._

_I know that you must be sad and confused, but that's why this is here. It would be rather awful of me not to explain this all to you. I may not have been the best mother, but I'm not a complete bitch. So here it goes._

_I am a witch. Your father is a demon. And you are a cambion._

_According to lore, cambion are half-human, half-demon creatures. At birth, they have no pulse and don't breathe (this is why I kept you away from hospitals until it was absolutely nessessary). This continues until the child is about seven years old, where it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate one from a human. A cambion is usually devilishly cunning, and angelically beautiful, able to persuade even the most strong-hearted individual to do his or her bidding. Most cambions have evil tendencies due to their demon parent._

_Lore isn't always correct though sweetheart._

_Your father is Fergus Crowley. He lives in Hell, Michigan. I don't know the exact address but it can't be too hard to spot his mansion. Please go see him. He'll do his best to help you understand what's happening to you… By all rights, what will happen should have already occurred, so this is my fault and I want to correct that._

_I put a seal on you when you were three to protect you from other demons and angels. You were at that age where inheriting your powers would mean being discovered, and if your father and I weren't around, the angels would have killed you and the demons would have taken you from us. We couldn't let that happen… You are our pride and joy._

_Please forgive me…_

"No…" I whisper, shaking my head fervently. 'This has to be a sick joke.' But the rhythmic tapping of my tail against my thigh begs to differ.

"What?" Brian asks and quickly swiped the paper from me. "The fuck?" He turns and begins to assess me, his eyes widening with disbelief. "Well, that would explain some things... And it wouldn't be the weirdest thing we've learned…"

He tries to laugh it off, watching as I crumble. "I'm going to die."

"No, you're not," he replies and quickly pulls me into a hug.

"Please stay with me tonight…"

"You know I can't…" After Toby walked in on us taking a nap, causing a giant misunderstanding, the Operator has been fervent in his attempts to keep our strangely close friendship from affecting the others.

"But I don't want to be alone." I hate how my voice gets caught in my throat, and I know that I'm crying; there's no other explanation for the wet tracks on my face. "P-promise you'll stay…"

"Alright…"

I hear a knock soon after, and Laughing Jack's voice carries through the door. "I know you don't want to talk right now, but I'm worried about you... Masky?" I don't answer, and neither does Hoody, so LJ speaks up again. "Hang out with me tomorrow... I'll be waiting downstairs at ten."

He leaves then without another word, and I am left alone with my partner once more. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know... I don't know..." Hoody says nothing more, instead choosing to hold me until I fall asleep.

My dreams are pleasantly empty for once…


	5. The Seal is Breaking

Chapter 4: The Seal is Breaking

**_Dear diary,_ **

**_Life is trying me._ **

**_Can I get a sign?_ **

**_Or a two of mine, a piece of mind._ **

**_Can I get a sign? (a sign)_ **

**_Can I get a sign? (I know)_ **

**_-Don't You Dare Forget the Sun (Get Scared)_ **

Hoody's gone when I wake up, and I wonder when he finally left. Perhaps, right after I fell asleep, but the bed is still mildly warm where he was before. He must have gone to get breakfast without me. I must thank him for letting me sleep; I seem not to be doing that as much as I ought to lately.

My body feels weighed down though, the small haze of sleep clinging to me and pleading for me to just forget the clown that is surely already waiting on me. Dressing is a slow process at first, but one look at the clock has the sandman's attempts failing. It just strikes ten when I get downstairs, and LJ is waiting, a muffin held in one hand. "Breakfast?" he offers, and I nod enthusiastically, taking it from him.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Out. Just simply out."

He lets me lead; Hoody and I know these woods better than anyone; and we end up at one of the last places I want to see. I can't help it. I am drawn to them even now and the dark memories contained.

_"What is this place?"_

_"The remains of a hospital."_

He says nothing to me when we walk inside. There's nothing pressing to say right now, and I don't really want to interrupt his brooding. "Why'd you want to go out today?"

"So we could talk."

I turn around then to look at him, only to come face to face with him; when had he started walking so close to me? I know that he's a touchy-feely person, but this close? "About what?" I ask and unconsciously take a step backwards, further into the corner of the burnt-out room, my old room. Why did we come up to this one of all things?

"You've been avoiding me," he snaps, and suddenly, there's a hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing tightly. Anger burns bright in his eyes, so angry with me. "And you've been keeping secrets."

"N-no, I haven't," I stutter and grab the monochrome clown's arm to keep him from cutting off my air supply. He normally wouldn't touch me like this… He must be mad at me.

LJ frowns and slams his hand into the wall next to the my head, getting uncomfortably close to my face; I can feel his thumb claw scratch at my flesh. "Don't lie to me. We are friends, aren't we?"

He forces me to nod my head until I finally whisper, "yes."

"Then tell me what's wrong with you…"

"I… I don't know," I admit and fight just subtly against his grasp; something's wrong. I'm dizzy, and I want to cough. Why is my vision going black? 'Jack you have to get away from me now!'

* * *

_"Daddy, where are you going?" He doesn't even look at me, keeping his head turned away. "Daddy?"_

_"Go back to your mother, Timothy."_

_"But I don't want you to go!"_

_"I know, but I have to go… We'll meet again. I promise." He finally looks back, but there is no face to greet me. What did he even look like?_

* * *

My eyes open again, and I find LJ leaning over me, curiosity and worry touching his happy features; I've been seeing those looks too often, from Hoody, Toby and now Laughing Jack. "Are you okay?" he whispers to me and reaches out to pull me up.

"Fine," I reply, but my body hurts. "I'm alright… I promise."

"You had a seizure again…" He winces and wraps an arm around his middle once I'm up, and I see them. There are bruises marring his pale features and cuts that ooze blood with every pulse of his strange heart. His nose cone even looks a bit bent.

"I'm so sorry," I murmur and reach out to touch his nose, flinching when he winces once more. "What did I do?"

"You thrashed," he replies, "and then you stopped, and it _growled_ at me. Then it attacked, and I held it off, and you woke up."

As he speaks, I can feel it there, coiled up like a snake and thrashing helplessly against its binds. It's mad and scared, and we have to go. Father is waiting on us to come back. They'll die if they stop us again. "Go home, Jack," I murmur. "Leave me here… And tell Hoody where I am. Tell him to bring the stuff from my mother's trunk and meet me up here."

"But…"

"I don't want to hurt you… I have to go, now."

* * *

Please let me be dreaming again… Please let this be a nightmare. I don't want to be alone again… I don't want to kill again…


	6. My Greatest Feeling is Regret

Chapter 5: My Greatest Feeling is Regret

_**Voices won't go away** _

_**They stay for days and days** _

_**They say some awful things, ways to make you fade away** _

_**I don't think no one's home** _

_**And we're just here alone** _

_**I better find you first, before you find the phone** _

_**-Another Way Out (Hollywood Undead)** _

The moment LJ leaves me behind, I collapse to the ground and let my head fall into my hands. My tail thrashes under my coat, but I refuse to set it free. I don't want another reminder of what just happened.

I don't know how long I sit there before Brian comes with Toby in tow; what's Toby doing here? It isn't safe for him. But the beast stills just slightly at the remembrance of 'don't hurt. Take care of' that I whisper to it whenever I feel it rising up around the younger proxy.

"Bri?" I whisper and look up at him, instantly reminded that I took off my mask when Toby flinches at my eyes. "We have to go."

Brian crouches down beside me and reaches out hesitantly to touch my shoulder. "What happened? Laughing Jack looked pretty shaken up…" His eyes meet my own, and a look of worry touches his features again; stop looking at me like that! "You had a seizure."

"It tried to kill LJ…" Toby's eyes widen further than before, and I see his feet shuffle awkwardly as that pesky survival instinct arises, conflicting with his desire to stay with me. "You're safe from it," I tell him if only to calm his, righteous, fears. "It won't hurt you."

Toby nods and sits down across from me. "What are we going to do?"

"We? You can't come with us… Hoody shouldn't even be coming with me!"

Both of my fellow proxies practically growl at me, and the older of the two says, "of course, we're coming with you. You aren't going alone."

"But he'll be mad at us, and I don't want this to be your problem. It only has to be mine."

"Not if you let us help," Toby interjects. "So where are we going?"

Knowing better than to fight with them, I answer, "Hell, Michigan. My mother left me enough money for my tickets there… on an airplane. I don't think that she was thinking that through." In response, they both nod and huff out loud sighs.

"We're never going to make it through security," Brian says, and I nod quickly, fingering the stack of bills in the envelope. "What are we going to do?" We become silent again, all three of us thinking, and we remain that way for what seems like an eternity.

"Trains," Toby pipes up. "Security shouldn't be as tight and if we can't get on a passenger one..."

"We'd sneak onto a cargo one." I pat his arm and smile when he beams with delight. "Good idea. So, let's go catch a train."

* * *

 

Boarding the train isn't nearly as hard as it should be, and so the three of us quickly find ourselves seated in an empty passenger car on the way to Cincinnati, Ohio.

The passenger car is a rather small one, about fifteen feet long, and unlike the booth seating in other cars, this one has bench seats. I'm tired, but I can't sleep. Whenever it wakes up, I just can't even try to close my eyes; the fear that it'll take over is just too strong. Hoodie tries to stay awake with me, even trying to make himself as uncomfortable as possible, but I persuade him to at least lean on me as I am more comfortable than the thin cushions. Toby, on the other hand, promptly decides to lay his head on my leg, and he falls asleep within a few minutes. He is young though and doesn't know everything that we do, and so I cannot fault his comfort when he has found it for years with me, although I find it dangerous.

"Tim." I look over at Brian, trying not to disturb the young teen on my lap, but my long-time friend is looking at the wall just like he was when we first settled in. "I'm sorry for bringing Toby."

"It's not your fault," I murmur back. "Once, he has his mind set on something he won't stop. You know that… If you hadn't brought him, then he would have snuck after us, and who knows what trouble that would have gotten him into."

"But I was the one who told him that something was wrong with him. I didn't think it would result in this though." He sighs. "I was expecting to find you half-dead on the concrete."

I squeeze my eyes shut; I didn't want to think about that. "I haven't been that low in a long time."

"Can you blame me for thinking that though?" I can't. "I was afraid that I would short circuit… I didn't want to freeze this time."

"I didn't die last time though. You did just fine…" He goes silent then, and after a few minutes, he falls asleep. I can't though, and not just because of the thing in my head but because his fears were valid. I did think about trying again. Perhaps, this suicide attempt would have worked…

Eventually, exhaustion claims me.

* * *

When the train stops almost a full two days later, the three of us scramble into the first of our connecting ones. It isn't long before we have to get off of that one too, and the final one still doesn't take us into Hell. So we decide to walk.

That night, we sleep in the trees, the few deciduous ones that were offered to us, and when we wake up, we continue one, actually making it into Hell in time to hear the chime of a clock signal noon. It doesn't take long to obtain my father's address, but on the other hand, getting security to let us see him is ridiculous.

"Please," I plead and try not to follow its directions and beat the man to death for disrespecting our wishes. "I have to talk to him."

"And why should the boss see you," he repeats, but I can't tell him that.

"Tell him its urgent business. It doesn't concern you," Hoody snaps, and the man looks at him with surprise.

"Alright then, if you're so ready to face the music." He leads us through the gigantic house and straight into a little study. It's cozy in its smallness, but it makes it hard not to look at anything other than the man behind the desk, his head bent forward as he reads some important documents. "Sir," our escort says, making the stout man behind the desk look up. "I have three people here that want to talk to you. They say that it's urgent."

"I'm certain that it is," Crowley drawls and puts down his pen. "So what can I do you gentlemen for? Fame? Fortune? Some new clothes? A hot shower?"

Brian nudges me in an attempt to get me to say something, but my brain has short-circuited. I'm not sure what to think. I'm not sure what to say. So I say the first thing that comes to my mind. "Father?"


	7. My Father is the King of Hell

Chapter 6: My Father is the King of Hell

**_Release me from your wire_ **

**_Dagger moon_ **

**_Release me from your wire_ **

**_Dagger moon_ **

**_Release me from your wire_ **

**_I'm the hang of your desire_ **

**_Always on the outside_ **

**_Dagger moon_ **

**_Tell me what you came for_ **

**_Dagger moon..._ **

**_\- Dagger Moon (Chromatics)_ **

Brian nudges me in an attempt to get me to say something, but my brain has short-circuited. I'm not sure what to think. I'm not sure what to say. So I say the first thing that comes to my mind. "Father?"

My father’s eyes widen and then narrow in anger, and I can feel a darkness well up in the vessel in front of me. “What did you just say?”

My voice is gone, but I try and speak. No words will leave my mouth, and it’s pounding at the back of my mind, wanting to get out, to talk to our father. Toby grabs my hand and looks at me worriedly behind his tinted goggles, and I squeeze his hand back, deciding to try again. Hoody beats me to that though, knowing how I can be when I’m stressed; humor, anger and silence are my defenses.

“Perhaps we should start over. I’m Brian Thomas. That goober wearing goggles is Toby Rogers, and the tall scary guy with the white mask is Timothy Wright.”

Surprise tinges his expression, and after a quick snap of his fingers, he banishes the other demons. “How did you learn that name?”

“Because it’s my name. My mother was named Janet Wright, and my father, according to her will, is Fergus Crowley.”

“…Janet’s dead?” I nod, and he grabs a tumbler from the table beside him, pouring a generous amount of scotch inside. “Remove your mask so I may see your face.” A twinge of fear sears through me, and I contemplate denying him this. But Toby and Hoody squeeze my hands and let go; they want to me to as well. I close my eyes before the plaster leaves my face, thinking that I could put it back on before he has to see what color lies beneath my eyelids, but then he says, “let me see your eyes, Timothy.” His mouth is agape. “You truly are my son…”

“Mm-hmm…” The sound of claws clicking against the floor awakens us from the stillness in our bones, and I hear a growl, so familiar to me and it. “Growley?” I hear her chuff before I’m knocked onto my back, a heavy weight settling upon me, and she licks my face. “Growley!”

My father laughs, the awkwardness melting from his voice. “She missed you.”

“What missed him?” Brian asks, looking down at me as if I had lost my mind, again.

“His hellhound,” he replies. “She confirms our relation and his heritage… Hellhounds cannot naturally be seen by humans unless their souls are about to be dragged to hell.”

* * *

The three of us end up in three separate rooms that night. They are brought to two adjacent guest bedrooms on the second floor, where they bid me goodnight, and Growley leads me up the stairs to another floor, one blocked off from normal entry. This floor contains three rooms, all of which are mine; my father had always assumed that I would return to him, but he had figured it would have been years ago that I would still need a place to stay.

In my area, there is a living room, my bedroom, and what my father affectionately calls the nerd room. The living room is no different from the one in the mansion, only more clean and with better furniture and ridiculously sized television, and in this room is a collection of movies. My bedroom contains the barest of necessities, albeit more expensive than my old house ever had: a four-poster bed, a dresser, desk and closet the size of my old bedroom.

The nerd room on the other hand contains more video games than I have ever seen before in my life; BEN would be in heaven there. They line the one wall like a library’s book collection in alphabetical and genre order, and every single one is unopened. Video game consoles lie within the entertainment center, all ready to be connected to the massive screen above. Board games lie in wait within a cupboard, sleeping beside a brand new computer and the games for it.

I contemplate playing one; it’s been a little while since BEN showed up and asked me to play; but I’m tired and decided to attempt sleep instead.

Around three in the morning, I wake up and slink downstairs to the other proxies’ rooms to find that Toby is asleep but Hoody is not. “Morning,” I whisper, and he smiles back softly. “I couldn’t sleep either.”

We sit in uncomfortable, but not strained silence for a little while, before he speaks. “Your father left a little while ago. He was arguing with someone…”

“Huh?” I didn’t hear anything.

“Apparently, whoever he was arguing with lives on this floor too. He called him Gabriel.” Brian falls silent again, and he gets that weird look on his face from whenever he tries to remembers something. “There conversation kind of went something like this: ‘I can’t believe you’re leaving when you’re son’s in the house.’ And then Crowley said, ‘I have to do my job. This one’s important.’ And then Gabriel said, ‘how can this one soul be worth more than your kid!’ Then they got all hissy at one another, and the Gabriel guy went back to his room. I think your dad left.”

“To where?”

“I don’no, but I’m kind of curious.”

We share mischievous grins. “Let’s go find out then.”

At first, when we make it into the graveyard, I don’t recognize my father as he sits on a gravestone, watching a taller woman walk away rather stiffly as if she’s fighting the urge to run. “Pleasure doing business with you darling!” he calls after her, a mocking edge to his tone, and then he stops when my boots squeak against the polished granite face of my own perch. The short, dark-haired man looks over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing as he takes in the two of us crouched upon a larger tombstone. “What are the two of you doing?”

“We couldn’t sleep, so we came to find you” I reply. “Bri heard you and that Gabriel guy arguing.”

Crowley curses. “And the other one?”

“Toby’s still asleep, and I didn’t want to wake him up. He doesn’t sleep enough…” Hoody hums in agreement.

His gaze softens, and I can see his hands visibly tighten to keep his arms from moving. “As much as I love story time, now is not the place or time… When I get home tomorrow, we’re going to have a little chat, Timothy. There’s a lot of things that I need to brought up to speed on. Agreed?”

“Yeah…”


	8. It's Nice to Talk About This

Chapter 7: It's Nice to Talk About This

**_I'd like to know you more_ **

**_Tell you you're fine_ **

**_Even though you're not_ **

**_When you worry so much_ **

**_It makes me want to cry_ **

**_Fragile like the leaves come fall_ **

**_Red yellow gold_ **

**_I love them all_ **

**_I guess it's just the way we love_ **

**_-Afraid (Sarah Fimm)_ **

In the morning, I slink down to the kitchen to make breakfast for the other proxies and myself. When I'm done, I'll go wake them up and not a moment before; they need to sleep as much as possible, but if I don't feed them, Brian won't cook, because he'll claim to not be hungry if he doesn't have to cook for me, and Toby will be condemned to whatever he can scavenge. The idea of the two of them pretending not to be hungry while their stomachs roar angrily makes me laugh and rifle through the cupboards.

A few minutes later, the pancakes are mixed up and cooking on the griddle as I go about finding the syrup and plates, and once they're done, I divvy them up and stow them in the microwave to stay warm.

The first room I end up in is Toby's because I know it takes him longer to roll out of bed. Upon seeing him all snuggled up in a bed twice the size of his at home, I contemplate leaving him there, but that simply won't do. So instead, I drag him out of the bed by his ankles, prompting the young teenager to start kicking and screaming at me. For my efforts, I can feel a bruise begin to form on my chest, but he's awake and that's all I wanted.

"Wake up," I say and gently shake Hoody awake. "Breakfast is done."

"M'kay," he whispers, his eyes slowly opening. "I heard you wake up Toby."

"Yep."

Brian snorts. "One of these days, he's going to kick you in the head."

"And I'm certain you'll find it hilarious."

"Yes. Yes, I will."

* * *

 

With the two of them slowly getting around, I slip back downstairs, intending to start eating; the other two will do the dishes as is customary. "Hey kid." Startled, I almost drop my plate onto the floor, and I whirl around to see a brunette man leaning on the countertop with a sucker tucked in the side of his mouth. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Well enough," I reply, and I can feel the fur on my tail start to rise up at the aura radiating off of this man. I don't know why, until it hisses in the back of my mind, 'angel!' I try not to let this knowledge get to me, but it has my hands curling into fists. "Who are you?"

"Gabriel," he chimes. "I'm your father's bestest friend! I'm his own personal nuisance angel!" He gains a mischievous look in his eyes. "And you're Timothy Wright, my devilish roommate's son." Despite it not being a question, I nod, and Gabriel smiles, a true one, not that psychotic smirk that had been on his face since I turned around. "I'm glad to meet you. Your dad's been worried about you."

"Then why didn't he come and find me?"

"He tried... Once he knew he could keep you safe, but he couldn't find you." He laughs. "It's hard to believe that the King of Hell would have trouble finding his own son with all the demons that exist in this world... But some, some do not answer to him."

"I know," I reply and think of the Operator as well as the one that I dare not speak of, Zalgo.

Gabriel throws his sucker stick in the trash then and starts rooting through the fridge for the piece of cake he had left in there. "Hell, I even tried looking for you, but you cambion are terrible to find. If Jessie was hard, you'd have been a real nightmare."

"Jessie?"

The brunette angel gives me a quizzical look. "The other cambion. Crowley didn't tell you about him?" I shake my head. "Oh, well, there happens to be two of your kind, and Jessie's the other one. His existence was discovered not to long ago, and then he just disappeared."

"And no one can find him?"

He shakes his head, and I can't help the pang of disappointment in my chest. "That's the beauty of your kind. If you have control of your powers, and don't want to be found, no one will ever be able to find you." I don't have anything to say, and so we sit in silence until I can hear the telltale sounds of Toby finally lumbering out of his room. "Why were you down here cooking for the other two?"

Now that's a question I can answer. "Back at home, Hoody and I take turns making breakfast and dinner for the three of us. If Toby had to cook we'd have cereal or toast every day for breakfast and mac and cheese for supper."

Gabriel laughs and finishes his last bite of cake just as I hear the footsteps on the staircase, two sets; Hoody must be up too; and he gets up to leave. But something occurs to him, and he stops and looks back at me. "I saw you take those pills earlier. cambion don't get sick. What were they for?"

I answer honestly. "I have seizures… I have for a long time. I never got sick when I was little. Not a cough or chicken pox. It wasn't until my father left that I had my first seizure, and after that, I still didn't get those normal human ailments." Calling those human ailments sounds so wrong… I am human, at least half. It snaps at me. 'We aren't human!'

Gabriel looks surprised and sympathetic, but he doesn't comment on it. "Crowley should be home in a couple of hours… I'll have someone come fetch you when he gets here… I want to know what happened too…"


	9. I Don't Know What I Am

Chapter 8: I Don’t Know What I Am

  
_**And everything I can't remember** _

_**As fucked up as it all may seem** _

_**The consequences that I've rendered** _

_**I've gone and fucked things up again** _

_**Why must I feel this way?** _

_**Just make this go away** _

_**Just one more peaceful day!** _

_**\- It’s Been a While (Staind)** _

“When my dad gets home, I’ll be going upstairs for a little while… I’m going to tell him everything that’s happened to us…”

“Us?”

“All of us… All of the Hornets, Jessica and Amy too…”

“Are you sure you want him to know about all of that?”

“No… But I want answers… I want to know why…”

The demon comes down when I’m watching Toby and Hoody clean up; I had offered to help, but they refused to let me. The man gives me a cruel look and wordlessly asks me to follow him. He pisses me off for some reason; perhaps it’s my other half’s fault with how it coils up, ready to strike on a moment’s notice. ‘Insolence!’ it screams. ‘Pitiful little demon!’

I know better than to try and engage my other personality, but I almost give up on that rule just to ask it ‘what gives?’

I never get a chance to do anything stupid like that, because the demon leads me into a second living room on the second floor where my father and Gabriel sit side by side. My dad has a tumbler full of brandy, and Gabriel has a mug of hot chocolate; I’ve started to note a pattern in the two of them: alcohol and sugar as vices respectively. Not that I’m much better when it comes to my pills…

“How did you sleep?”

“As good as I could in this situation… I guess.” The silence grows too awkward to bear any longer. “I guess, we should just get this talk over with, right?”

“Of course,” Gabriel chirps, trying to ease the tension, unsuccessfully. “Tell us what happened after Mr. Grumpy Demon abandoned you!” My father’s glare is one that promises a slow and agonizing death. “I mean, what happened after he became detained…”

I can’t help the smile that appears on my face; Gabriel just has to push my father’s buttons, doesn’t he? Still, I cannot refute the earlier statement. Oh, well… “Mom had me put into hospital care.”

“Why? What happened?!”

I love the look of worry on their faces; it feels good… “I started having seizures after you left. But that’s okay, I don’t mind that she did that, because that’s how I met Brian… But shortly afterward, I was stalked by a demon known as the Slenderman, not that Brian or I knew that at the time.” They stiffen at my boss’s name, but they don’t say anything, and I’m not in the mood to ask right now. “I got worse. I started to see things that weren’t there, hear things that weren’t there, and in the end, I was all but locked up in the psyche ward… Then a fire broke out in my room and that hospital has been abandoned ever since.

“Mom never made me go back to one, and instead, I got to be a normal kid. I felt normal, aside from my seizures. Then I went to college and made some new friends… The demon returned…”

* * *

 

“After I heard that Jessica died; they said it was a car accident; I came back home for her funeral… And Brian was alive, and I followed him… Slenderman was waiting for us in the woods, and I didn’t have anything else… I needed Brian… Everything was falling apart; he was all I had left… So I work for Slender as a proxy…” It’s silent in the room when I finish my tale; neither of them know what to say, and neither do I. A noise from downstairs interrupts the quiet though, and after a moment, I realize that Toby and Brian are arguing about something. “Those two…”

“He uses you as a proxy?”

Gabriel’s question catches me by surprise. “Yeah.”

The brunette man turns to my father and shakes his head, eyes wide. “It’s all you, Crowley…”

“Thanks.” He turns his gaze back to me, and with a scary amount of determination, he asks, “do you know what the terms of your contract as a proxy are?”

“No,” I reply. “It was merely a taking of his hand and that was it.”

“Great…” He heaves a great sigh. “We’ll come back to that later… For now… I want to try something. Will you humor me, son?”

“Sure…”

“Timothy, look at that candle… Please. I know you’ll feel stupid, but I want you to imagine it being lit.”

I feel stupid, but I listen to him anyway. I must have stared at it for at least five minutes before I started to give up, and then it decided to listen. The candle flickers to life in the corner of my eye, and I wonder if I did that. ‘No, that’s impossible…’

“Pyrokinesis,” Crowley says, and I raise my head back up to look him in the eye. “The ability to create and control fire… I believe that’s how the fire happened… You would have been too young to control it, even if I had been there to teach you.” He raises his hand and the fire dances around, growing and shrinking in the dance. “It’s time I taught you. But not for a few days… I have business down below, and I’d prefer not to get you into more danger.”


	10. No One has to be an Enemy

Chapter 9: No One has to be an Enemy

_**I** _

_**Won't** _

_**Play** _

_**Your** _

_**Games** _

_**Just let me be!** _

_**You don't know me, no you don't know me, no** _

_**I'm not a pushover** _

_**-Pushover (Manafest)** _

"What do you mean there's another one like you?"

"Just that," I reply and lean more on my arms so I can stare down at the grounds beneath the balcony in Hoody's room. "I want to meet the other cambion. Gabriel told me that the last time anyone saw him, he seemed to have excellent control over his powers. I want to know how he does it…"

"Crowley said he would help you." Brian gives me a stern look and tosses his hood over onto the bed. "So why do you really want to go see this kid?"

"…because he's like me."

He makes a small humming noise of affirmation. "Well… I don't think you're going to find him by running all over creation, so we might as well do something else to pass the time."

"But-"

"Tim… Let's go into town, or maybe even the next town over. You can wear sunglasses to hide your eyes, and for a little while, the three of us can pretend to be normal."

* * *

  
The nearest little town features a flea market. This market isn't very crowded, but the vendors are plentiful and mostly friendly. It reminds Brian and I of the one back in Rosswood, and while thoughts of our hometown are painful, they still bring smiles to our faces. We remember when my mother would drive us there and give us ten dollars that we earned in some convoluted way or another.

I had thought that he had forgotten those little things when our memories were scrambled under the operator's influence, but as we walk a toy vendor he leans close and whispers, "do you have your ten dollars ready?"

Toby gives me a strange look when I start laughing and goes back to perusing the hunting gear across the way. "You two are weird!" he calls back, and Hoody starts to laugh too.

I watch him start to fawn over a pair of goggles about the same color as his current pair, and I remember s goggles are hazy to look through. They've been scratched up by the branches of the forest and the thorns of gardens, reminding me of a fly's eye with the crisscrossing marks. "Do you like them?" I ask.

"Yeah," he murmurs and starts to put them down, but I catch his wrist.

"Then we'll get them." I lift my head and see the vendor looking at us with curious eyes. "How much?"

* * *

  
 Toby complains that we paid too much for his new goggles, but I pay that no mind. I have the money, and as far as the goggles are concerned, they are a birthday present. We quickly find ourselves in a section holding car parts and would have left, but there's a collection of musical instruments in the back of one vendor's lot. As much as I hate admitting it, I miss my music room terribly, just because I could mess around and no one would bother me… But all if have left is that thrice-damned ukulele.

"If you're going to spend your inheritance on Toby, you have to spend it on yourself too," Hoody whispers when he catches me eyeing one of the acoustic guitars. "You can't spoil us, then forget about yourself."

"I don't spoil you."

"Yes, you do," he replies with a deadpan tone. "Now, you don't get to leave this spot until you decide if you want, not need, but want that guitar. Then if you do, buy the darn thing!"

"Okay! Okay!" I hiss back, and he and Toby promptly abandon me.

I can't have been there for longer than a few minutes when I hear two voices behind me. "I can't believe Crowley rebuilt his mansion in the same place. You'd think that that guy, after having been betrayed by his race and having already lost his last house, would think about relocating." Hearing my father's name, I turn around to find two men rifling through the parts, well one, the taller of the two stands off to the side and watches. "Dean," the taller one says. "Do you think that Crowley has anything to do with the increased demonic activity around here?"

"I'm not sure, Sammy, but it can't hurt to be suspicious of our old 'friend'."

"Agreed, but he's been absent for quite a while. It's odd…. Normally, he would have shown up by now just because we're close to his house."

"Maybe someone stronger came along and killed him. I would love to see his surprise." The shorter one looks over at me when a growl slips from my mouth. His eyes widen, and I remember that I took off my sunglasses to get a better look at the guitar; no one was around to see my eyes, until now. I quickly pull them back down but the damage is done. "Who are you?" I set the guitar down and quickly find Toby and Hoody not far away, but they have their attention set some hoodies. Dean gets closer to me, and I can smell the gunpowder, gasoline, salt and sulfur on his hands. "Who are you?"

Part of me wants to run away, but 'it' is defiant. "Timothy Wright," I tell him.

"You couldn't come up with a cooler name?" he chides. "At least you could have changed it like your boss, demon."

"I'm not a demon," I snap. "And Crowley isn't my boss." I glance over at the shopkeeper, noting how his gaze has shifted over to us. "And you're making a scene. I have no qualms about making this worse… I know I can get out of a mob, but can you?"

I can hear Toby and Hoody moving in and breathe a small sigh of relief. "Tim!" Toby cries and rushes over grab my hand like a child would to their parents. "We found this really cool thing! You should come see!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Brian's hand twitch with the desire to face palm himself. Still despite the weak excuse, I mentally thank the younger proxy. "Alright, alright! Where's this really cool thing?"

"Over here!" As soon as we're away from those two, we run.

* * *

  
"You met Sam and Dean Winchester!" I wince at my father's shout and look over to find Gabriel in a similar state of 'fear'.

"I guess…" I reply. "What's the big deal?"

"They're hunters, Timothy! They kill supernatural creatures! And if their own bloody birdbrained angel, Castiel were there, he would have killed you just because you're half-demon."

"Why?"

Gabriel speaks up then. "Because, cambion are referred to as the antichrist for a reason. Their purpose in the apocalypse is to end the heavenly host… It's instinct to kill your kind, not that there are many to start with."

"So I have a giant target on my back?"

"Yes."

"Great, something else to worry about!"


	11. My Other Half Hates Me

Chapter 10: My Other Half Hates Me

_**Failure find me** _

_**To tie me up now** _

_**'Cause I'm as bad, as bad as it gets** _

_**Failure find me** _

_**To hang me up now** _

_**By my neck cause I'm a fate worse than death** _

_**\- Sarcasm (Get Scared)** _

The explosion shakes the house, and my father and I have to dive down to escape the rush of heat that flickers to life above us. “I’m sorry,” I whisper and feel a rush of shame burn within me. It’s been almost a week, and I am no closer to controlling my pyrokinesis as I was at age ten. It’s frustrating when the other things are starting to come easier… I can even fucking teleport, but I can’t get control over my fire abilities.

“It’s fine, Timothy,” he replies, and he quickly gets back on his feet and sweeps his molten gaze around the room to assess the damages. “You didn’t destroy too much this time, so we’re making progress.”

“How does this look anything like progress?” I ask him and sweep my arm out to encompass the entire room. The floor and walls are scorched, and there’s a few holes burned through the wall that my father was standing against.

“You haven’t scorched us in a few days.”

“Don’t jinx me!”

* * *

 

When my father and I stop training for the day, I slip downstairs to find Toby half-asleep on the couch beside Hoody who’s reading a book. In his left hand is a glass of scotch, and we know that it’s a bad idea… Alcohol is the last thing I need in my system right now. ‘Relax…’ I snatch it from his hand and down it, but it wasn’t me who moved my hand.

“Tim!”

I look at the empty glass with mortification, and I can practically hear it laugh in the back of my head. My mind runs at a mile a minute, trying to process what has happened. “Oh, no…”

Toby opens his eyes and looks at up with wonder, and when he sees the tumbler in my hand, he says, “I thought you didn’t drink, Masky.”

“I don’t…” I reply, and I can hear the shake in my voice. “It messes with my medicine.” I shove the glass back at my friend and start heading downstairs into the cellar. “Don’t let me back up unless I sound like me…” I tell them. “If it comes out, it might hurt you… It wants blood.”

I should have known it would try to do something. It’s grown more daring in the past few days as I call upon the things that brought it to life. It is the demon… Normally, when it takes over, I black out, and sometimes, I’m grateful for that. But for it to take over with me still conscious…

There’s a devil’s trap on the floor; I had made it large enough to encompass a small couch and television set. My father taught me how to make one, but I doubt it will hold my other half. Even so, I remain inside of it, watching a movie that I remember Jay liking. It’s a really odd one, but he’d always laugh at the corny jokes.

It’s interesting, just not enough to keep me awake.

* * *

 

_“Hey, Tim?”_

_The heat blowing into the room feels wonderful, and I snuggle up under my blankets further as I turn to look at my unwanted companion. Jay’s sitting on the end of his bed, tucking his laptop away, and a frown lies on his face, eyebrows furrowed deep. “What’s wrong?”_

_“I was just wondering.”_

_“About what?”_

_“The other guy,” he replies and slides his bag under the bed. “Why doesn’t he take over when you’re awake?”_

_“Do you want him to?”_

_He pales considerably at the thought, and I must admit that I don’t like the idea of it either. “No… Not at all… It’s just, I’ve only been attacked by him after you’ve fallen unconscious.”_

_“Maybe it just can’t get out,” I tell him and pull the blanket up further, a shiver running through me. “Maybe consciousness is like a cell door to it that’s only unlocked when I’m no longer awake.” That’s a lie. It did things sometimes, when I was little, and I would be awake. I just didn’t say anything. What could I have told my mother? My hand moved my pencil? My foot kicked her?_

_“Well, I’m glad. I don’t want to be afraid of it when you’re still here.”_

_“Why aren’t you afraid of me?”_

_He flashes me a bright smile. “Because you’re a good guy, Tim. You’re better than me, better than Alex… You’re just a good guy.”_

* * *

 

When I wake up, I’m surprised to find the basement still intact, and while I can feel it coiled up again like a cobra, it isn’t any closer to rising to the surface as it was earlier. The dream has riled it too, and I can’t blame it. Memories should stay away… They create an itch in my skin that make me want to run away from them, and I think about it. But, I don’t move from the couch until I hear a knocking on the door. “Timothy? I’m going out for a bit if you want to come with me.”

The devil’s trap does nothing to trap me, and so I walk up the cellar steps unhindered. “I’ll come,” I tell him, and artificial light floods the stairwell.

“Good,” he says. “We might as well flush what’s left of your drink out of your system.”


	12. There's Only One Option

Chapter 11: There's Only One Option

_**I always shoot first, never ask questions.** _

_**Never think of consequences.** _

_**I didn't feel a thing, I didn't feel a thing.** _

_**I never think twice, no intentions.** _

_**Never feel the consequences.** _

_**Until it starts to sting, until it starts to sting.** _

_**No, it never hurt like this before.** _

_**\- Nothing's Fair in Love and War (Three Days Grace)** _

Going to work with my father is a disaster.

There were a group of souls that he was set to gather, a collective of nerds that had been dared to summon a demon as children. They had made a deal to make their bullies suffer, and in return, they promised to surrender any hope of heaven. They were too young to make a decision that big, but what did that matter when they were offering themselves up to the demon that made their deal. She's dead now, so we had to take care of her accounts.

The first couple we collected brought nothing but a sick satisfaction from my other half; I felt nothing for them. Then I saw the teenager hunched over his laptop, typing rapidly into it. His eyes reminded me of a panda from the dark circles of lost sleep. He reminded me so much of Jay… I couldn't help the reflex at seeing someone about to hurt him.

When the hellhound leapt at him, I grabbed it telekinetically. My other half was practically cackling as it fed into my hatred and fear and sadness, all of those things that I had felt when Jay died. It was so long ago, but that loneliness remains even after all this time… It's exhausting, and when I fall asleep, the other one acts upon it.

 

* * *

 

The moonlight that filters in through my room is the only light as I pack up what few things I brought with me to Hell. My window is open, letting the cool breeze sweep over me, and I'm reminded of how far we had to travel to get here. Now, I'm running away, and I'm forcing them to come with me…

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Brian murmurs behind me, and I stiffen in order to fight the reflex to attack him. "We're following you willingly."

"I didn't hear you come in," I tell him and finish stuffing my inheritance into my bag. "And I didn't realize I was talking aloud."

"You weren't. I just know you all too well…" I turn my head slightly to watch him open my closet doors and start rifling through the things my father had bought for me. He tosses various jackets and shirts at me without looking back. "We're taking these with us."

"Why?" I ask, but I pack them up anyway.

"Because your clothes at home are looking a bit more ragged than I care to see you in."

I don't comment on the odd sentence, because I know what he means. I've had the same clothes for years, and they don't exactly hold up when you live in the forest. "Then did you bring some of yours?"

He smiles; I can see it in the way that his mask pulls across his face; and nods. "Right here." He holds out his backpack, actually full for once, and I remember how empty it was when we left. "Toby's got some new clothes too… He's excited."

That makes me laugh. Sometimes, I forget how young Toby really is; it just never crosses my mind; but to hear of him getting excited over new clothes reminds me when Brian was younger. He got just as excited for something that seemed so trivial then. "Good… I'm glad that we came here, if only so Toby could pretend to be normal for a little while."

"We don't have to go, you know…" Hoody drops his own bag to floor beside mine and leans against the wall. "Your dad wasn't mad at you… He actually looked quite proud."

"I don't want to be a burden on him. I'm a ticking time bomb that doesn't quite enjoy his line of work. If the mere memory of our friends… the dead ones, is capable of sending me into another freak out, then it's best that I don't get involved with those kinds of things. I could really hurt him…"

"And you could just as easily hurt Laughing Jack again."

I grit my teeth and look at my hands as they shake in my lap. "It's not the same, Bri. We won't hurt our friends anymore… Our friends are precious… LJ scared us… And one day, when we are whole again, when I have control, it will be safe to see father again."

Brian raises his eyebrow at the word 'we', but he's heard it so often now that he doesn't mention it. "Fine," he concedes with a sigh. "Toby's ready to go when you are."

 

* * *

 

We slip out of my bedroom window, careful not to disturb the demons that loiter around outside, and I can hear her following us. I think about telling Growley to return, but I've come to adore the curious hellhound. "Hush," I tell her, and we sneak off of the property, beginning our walk to the next town. We have a train to catch in the morning.

Sneaking a hellhound onto a train isn't as hard as it ought to be, but I suppose that's because no one but I can see her if she doesn't want to be seen. So she sits on the box beside me and nuzzles at the side of my face, trying to distract me. She knows that I feel awful for leaving Gabriel and dad without saying anything. "I know girl… I'll be okay," I whisper to her and press a kiss to her snout. "You'll like Smile." She gives me a quizzical look. "He's a dog just like you, just a little… more happy."

Hoody snorts and adjusts his backpack under his head so he can catch a nap. "More happy… Excellent phrasing… Excellent grammar."

"Shove it."


	13. I Didn't Want to Come Home

Chapter 12: I Didn't Want to Come Home

_**You'll never know what hit you** _

_**Won't see me closing in** _

_**I'm gonna make you suffer** _

_**This hell you put me in** _

_**I'm underneath your skin** _

_**The devil within** _

_**You'll never know what hit you** _

**_-The Devil Within (Digital Daggers)_ **

The mansion looks as imposing as ever, perhaps even more so. I had hoped that he'd still be gone, but I can feel the Operator's presence inside. I see a face appear in an upper window; it's LJ. He disappears from view shortly afterwards, and I can feel the oppressive force within grow. Growley snarls when he flickers into view in front of us, and so I lay my hand on her fur to calm her and suck in a breath myself.

"Where were you?" he hisses into my mind. "I leave you in charge and you run away!" Toby shifts behind me as the static builds in our heads, and he reaches out to grab my hand to steady himself. "Masky… Tell me where you went…"

My mouth doesn't want to work… I don't want to tell him. I can't tell him, but I cannot lie to him; every atom in my body belongs to him. "My mother died… I had things to settle for her."

"So I heard," he replies, his voice venomous but smooth like drinking diluted acids. "In your absence, Sally has tried to kill both Jeffery and Eyeless Jack. I came home to find a child's corpse suspended from the chandelier in the entryway, curtesy of Laughing Jack… You have no idea how disappointed I am in you…" The door creaks open to reveal Smile Dog and BEN, but Slender ignores them in favor of grilling me further. "And in your mother's will did she leave this dog?"

Growley's fur puffs up in irritation, and his butts my hand, giving me a look that says, 'are you really going to let this asshole call me a DOG?!' I smile. "For the most part," I tell him. "She prefers to be called a hound. The term 'dog' is demeaning to her."

Smile Dog's grin grows, and he bounds out of the mansion, tail wagging happily. "You're so pretty!" he tells her, and Growley, quite taken aback by a talking dog, looks up at me.

"This is Smile. The one I told you about."

"You told her about me?" I nod. "Oh, you're the best, Masky." She growls something at him. "Timothy? That's Masky's real name?" She makes a sound akin to a purr; I've never heard her make that sound before, but then again, I didn't know that she could even make that sound. "Oh, if that would make you feel more at ease, I'll call him that."

"Call me what?" I can't help the feelings of horror that rise inside of me.

"Timothy," Smile replies. "She says that it would make her feel more at home."

"How about calling me Tim," I try to compromise. "Timothy's too stuffy… It only sounds alright from my father." The feelings of sorrow that radiates off of me is almost palpable. I turn my attention back to the Operator and sigh. "I would like to go to bed if that would be alright, sir."

His fury seems to have deflated, and I can feel his static lift from my weary mind. "Go to bed," he whispers, and I nod.

Growly dutifully follows me up the porch steps, her presence oddly comforting. I smile at BEN who offers only blank surprise, and as I enter, I can feel the others hiding from us. Even Sally, who would at least shout a hello at me, is missing. Perhaps LJ told them how my other half attacked him.

"Go play with Smile," I tell my hellhound. "I'm just going to bed. You don't need to protect me in my room." She looks hurt but leaves anyway. I'll make it up to her later… I'm certain someone disposable will wander into the woods for her mutilate and eat.

My room is just as desolate as I remember it. I was only gone for a few weeks… How can I feel so out of place here?

'Because we're better than them," my other half 'helpfully' supplies. 'We deserve better than this. We're the prince of hell.'

'No, we're not,' I tell it. 'We're Masky… the most disposable proxy in existence. That's how we are seen, and that's all we will ever be."

 

* * *

 

"Timothy Wright?"

I don't recognize the voice on the phone, and that frightens me. "Yes, this is he."

"I'm Police Chief Myers. I'm calling about Jessica Locke. In her will, you are listed as the person to call upon her death."

"Jessica's dead?" I can't help the hollowness that creeps into my voice; I have long since lost the strength to be emotional in the face of mortality. "How?"

"A car accident last Saturday… We had trouble finding you."

"I know… When and where is her funeral?"

"Rosswood Cemetery on Tuesday."

 

* * *

 

A knock on my door brings me out of my thoughts. "Come in, Brian."

The other proxy doesn't show surprise that I knew it was him; perhaps it's the time spent in my father's house with my awakening powers; and comes to sit beside me. "I don't think Jeff's going to antagonize you anymore."

"Why's that?"

"LJ's wounds were worse than we realized… worse than he admitted to you… Masky… He nearly died."

"What?" My voice catches in my throat.

"LJ almost died of internal bleeding. Apparently, your other half packs a massive punch… And it kind of kicked him in the chest multiple times."

I push up from the bed and grab my mask from the table. "I have to talk to him."


	14. I Never Thought You'd Hate Me Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Character Suicide  
> -It's not graphic, but it's still there

Chapter 13: I Never Thought that You'd Hate Me Too

_**But now I'm home** _

_**Right where I belong** _

_**And I cannot stay strong** _

_**And in my mind** _

_**It's what I deserved all along** _

_**Just let me go** _

_**I'm trapped within my home** _

_**They left me all alone** _

_**It's all I know** _

_**And as my fear grows** _

_**It's where I call my home** _

_**-Home (NateWantsToBattle)** _

"LJ?" I knock on his door softly and hear him more about inside. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," he replies, his happy tone muted.

"Good," I whisper, but I know that he's lying. "I'm sorry that I hurt you…"

"I'm sure you are."

The condescension takes me by surprise, but I recover from it quickly, used to hearing negativity from the others. "Can I see you? I promise that I have it under control…"

"No," he bites out, and I can imagine his face, the anger and betrayal. "I don't believe that in the slightest. No wonder Slender refers to you as 'the liar' sometimes…"

"LJ?"

"You lied to me, Masky?"

I can feel the tiniest flame of fear burn steadier. "About what?"

"I saw your eyes… You aren't human…"

My eyes widen behind my mask, and I can feel anger begin to rise and fight down the fright. "Who did you tell?" I hiss.

"No one."

"Really…" My skin feel hot like fire is urging to be freed; I have to let it out somehow. I expand my senses to ensure that the others are gone before I light the sconces down the hall to quell the burning. "I didn't know, you know…"

"How could you not know?"

"Because my powers were sealed… Please let me in… I can't talk about this through a door." My voice is hollow, emotionless again; I just can't gather enough energy to express the betrayal I feel. "I don't want others to know."

"Maybe later," he tells me. "How can I trust you again?" Why can't you be honest with me? I thought we were friends."

"We are!"

"Then why are you still lying?"

 

* * *

 

The hallway is silent as I walk away from LJ's room, and I can feel tears start to burn at my eyes. No one will come out of their rooms while I'm wandering about; I can practically taste their trepidation. Perhaps, the Operator told them that I was in trouble, and maybe, this is part of my punishment… It wouldn't be the first time that I was segregated from the others, but that was a long time ago.

Toby's door opens up ahead of me, and the young proxy waves weakly at me before disappearing into his room. I know then that I'm supposed to be alone to think about what I've done. What Slender has no way of knowing is that I will never be able to stop thinking about this…

Hoody has left my room when I make it back to the door, but I refuse to go inside and stare at that closet where my darkest memories are hidden. I have to go someplace where I'll be alone… I have no hellhound to bother me; Smile and Growley are too busy playing a rousing game of tag. I can hear his excited chatter as I pass the front door on my way to the basement, and she barks just as gleefully. I'm glad…

Before I came 'to terms' with my situation, I used to hide out in the basement of the mansion. I don't go down there anymore, because that's where I… before Toby came to be with us… That's where I tried to kill myself and almost succeeded.

Sometimes, I wish I was like Toby, not just in the physical sense, but in the emotional one too… To never feel pain… Never…

I promised myself that I would never let myself get that low again. Why did I have to break that promise?

Why?

Why does everyone hate me?

Why?! Why can't I just be like them?

Why am I like this?

Why couldn't I have been born human?

…

_Why couldn't I have just never been born?!_


	15. Sometimes, Memories are Better Left Forgotten

Chapter 14: Sometimes, Memories are Better Left Forgotten

_**Trust me** _

_**There's no need to fear** _

_**Everyone's here** _

_**Waiting for you to finally be one of us** _

_**Calm down** _

_**You may be full of fear** _

_**But you'll be safe here** _

_**When you finally trust me** _

_**Finally believe in me** _

_**-Let You Down (Three Days Grace)** _

_They say that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes._

_"He's beautiful, Janet…" As I open my eyes for the first time, everything is fuzzy, but I know this voice. It's my father that holds me tightly, and I unconsciously search out his heartbeat; he has none. Mother had a heartbeat…_

_"Yes, he is…" Another voice sounds behind me, and I know this one even better. This voice belongs to mother, and her heart beats just the same as I remember it. "He's like you, isn't he?"_

_"Yes… Half-demon, little cambion… You're the best gift any demon could ask for, you know that, Timothy?"_

* * *

 

_"Daddy, please don't go!" He cradles me to his chest, and his hands feel like hot coals against my bare back. I don't mind though… He would never hurt me._

_"I have to," he replies, and I can see tears at the corners of his eyes. Daddy never cries…_

_"Why?"_

_"Because some bad people would try to hurt you."_

* * *

 

_I've decided that I like Brian. He doesn't judge me like everyone else does. They say that they don't, but they're lying. Why wouldn't they? I'm not like them…_

* * *

 

_Why is everyone staring at me? How was I supposed to know what lockers are? I've never used on before in my life!_

_A hand comes down to pat my shoulder, and I turn, already knowing who's touching me. It's Brian, with a soft smile on his face to reassure me; only he would touch me without thinking twice. The teachers never touch me, not even when I'm having a seizure, because I don't trust them... Brian will never hurt me..._

* * *

 

_"Come on, Tim! I know you don't like Alex, but you like hanging out with Jay, don't you?"_

_"We'll yeah..."_

_He grins at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes; I don't like that look, because he always does something to embarrass me, not that it works anymore. "Tim's got a crush on Jay~!" And there he goes._

_"I do not," I drawl and slip out of the car, thankful that the other four crew members are oblivious to the exchange in the car, especially when Jay waves at me from his spot beside Alex. He always follows that guy around like a puppy dog, and not for the first time, I wonder if they're together. I certainly hope not..._

_Alex would probably kill him._

* * *

 

_How could I have forgotten this guy, this frightfully dull-minded, klutzy guy who use to crash at my house after filming because it was too long of a drive back to his apartment? How could I have forgotten the way he'd stay up to ridiculous times as if fighting against the very notion of sleep? How could I have forgotten how fucking nosy he is?!_

_"Tim?" A hand comes down to clasp at my shoulder, and Jay holds out a burger for me. "I brought supper."_

_"Thanks..." He opens his mouth, presumably to ask about the pill bottle in my hands, but I'm not going to say anything. He can't make me, and he knows that quite well. "I want to go back to the hospital, if you'll go too..."_

_"Why?"_

_"I'll tell you when we get there..."_

* * *

 

_"It's about time you came home, Masky."_

_'That's not my name.' The Operator is an imposing figure as he stands over me, and if I were a lesser person, if a part of me didn't detest /binding my will to anyone, I would have winced at the sound of hiss hissing, static voice in my head. "Where's... Hoody?" My friend's new name feels like acid on the tip of my tongue._

_"Waiting for you." He raises a hand to point towards a second story window in the mansion, and as I look up there, Brian waves, beckoning me inside. "You can see him again, if you just put on your mask..."_

* * *

 

_"My name's Laughing Jack... What's yours?"_

_...No... no... I don't want to think about that._

* * *

 

_"Take care of him for me..."_

_The ten year-old lying on my bed is fast asleep, seeming to have comfortable dreams. His cheek is torn up; it's surprisingly fitting on his angelic face. Still, I don't want him to tear it further, and so I tape gauze to cover it up. I have a new book to read, a present from LJ on his last venture out into the real world; I love that book..._

_He uncurls and reaches out to grab my jacket, still fast asleep, and I wrap my arm around him, looking down at his sleeping face. Toby looks so innocent when he's asleep, but then he wakes up..._

* * *

 

_Dad… I'm sorry for leaving you… I'm so sorry._

**_"Timothy!"_ **


	16. I Thought We Couldn't Be Friends Anymore

Chapter 15: I Thought We Couldn't Be Friends Anymore

_**Send a message to the unborn child** _

_**Keep your eyes open for a while** _

_**In a box high up on the shelf, left for you, no one else** _

_**There's a piece of a puzzle known as life** _

_**Wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight** _

_**-45 (Shinedown)** _

"Timothy!"

I open my eyes to find the others crowded around me, and I wonder why everything hurts. I look around, not sure if I should say anything, and that's when I see him. He has a worried expression on his face; it's just wrong… I decide that I have to say something and can't help but whisper, "dad?"

He looks relieved, and his hand runs through my hair in a motion that's supposed to be soothing. I think it's actually keeping him calm, well as calm as he can be in this situation. "We need to talk, young man…"

"Seriously!" Gabriel's voice startles me, and I see the archangel's pouting, angry face staring at me. "What were you thinking running off? Do you know how much of a basket case your father has been? And then you pull this stunt! It's a good thing that I got my grace back or I wouldn't have been able to heal you…" When I start snickering, he pushes off of his perch on the desk and through the mass to glare down at me. "What's so funny?"

"You sound like my mom…"

Crowley starts chuckling behind the archangel and says, "you do… You sound just like Janet."

"I do not!"

Brian, who had been over to my house more times then I dare count, chimes in then. "You do…"

"No one asked you, Brian!"

The attention is moved from me to the bickering pair, and I find myself feeling grateful to my best friend. I don't want to talk about this in front of the others. I can still feel some of their gazes boring into me... They don't understand! None of them understand why I feel this way...

'Why don't we show them? Maybe some of them do... Like Jeff... and LJ.'

'Why would LJ feel like me?'

'Because of Isaac.' That name is like a punch to the gut... How could I have possibly forgotten that LJ had the same feelings once? He told me so himself... 'He doesn't hate us...'

I look up from my lap, having sat up during the commotion, to find my friend looking at me, a deep frown marring his features. "I'm going out," I tell my father, but before he can argue against it, I slip off of my bed and grab the clown's steadying hand, much to the surprise of those not engrossed in Brian and Gabriel's argument.

My bedroom door closes behind us, but he still doesn't speak to me as he leads me into his room instead.

I've only been in LJ's room a handful of times, but it never ceases to amaze me in its colorfulness. Every wall is painted a different color: blue, yellow, red and green, like he just couldn't decide on one. The bedspread is a literal rainbow, and the floor is covered in carpet squares like a child brings to kindergarten. Posters from various circuses fill up wall space on the red and yellow ones, but the blue wall is almost bare. There's a picture of the two of us when we snuck into a six flags with EJ and Brian; Hoody was taking the picture. Beside that though is a framed drawing of a child and a tall, clown-like individual in a rainbow of color. Not even the crude crayon signature could throw anyone off of the creator's name: Isaac.

It pains me to see him look so reverently at that picture, even more when I think about it hanging over his head while he sleeps.

"Masky, I'm so sorry..." My friend's voice quickly pulls me out of my thoughts, and as I look over at him, I see the same sorrow that I see whenever we start talking about his unfaithful best friend. Although when we talk about him, LJ looks angry too, rightfully so.

"For what?" I ask and try my hardest to smile at the monochrome clown.

"For hurting you... And making you... want to die."

"Don't apologize for that... It wasn't... solely our conversation. It's everything... These past few weeks have just compounded on the last twenty-eight years of perpetual hell." Not wanting to keep any more secrets between the two of us, I touch the wick of the candle next to his bed, watching a flame flicker to life under my fingertips. His eyes widen just slight, and I wonder how much he actually knows. "You're right though; I am a liar... A chronic liar. I've lied to everyone, including myself for my entire life..." My breath hitches in my throat at that admission, and I can feel anger well up inside of myself, at myself… Why am I always so angry with myself? "Did my father tell you what I am?" He shakes his head. "I'm a cambion, Jack… Do you know what that is?" He shakes his head, and I can't help the bitter 'of course' that runs through my mind. "I'm the fucking antichrist..."

"Oh..." That revelation seems to be enough to knock the guilt from his system. "But... How? Did Slender not know?"

"The only people who knew, as far as I know, were my parents."

He's silent for a little while. "Well, this is unexpected."

"Yeah, it was really the last thing I thought would happen."

He sits Indian-style on his bed and pats it to get me to join him. I almost want to bolt, a side effect from my other half's instinct to preserve our continued existence, but I remind it that LJ is our friend and that he'd never, intentionally, hurt us. When I sit down, his smile grows, showing his sawblade teeth. "So, your eyes, are those a part of this whole antichrist thing?" When he says that, my hand shoots up to touch my mask, fear running through me as I think for a moment that I'll touch skin, and then I nod, slowly relaxing again. "Fun~! Did anything else special come with it?"

I'm surprised that he's taking this in all so easily, but in all the years that I've known Laughing Jack, he's proven to be nothing if not flexible and unphasable. "I have a tail," I tell him and immediately regret that decision.

His eyes light up, and his grin grows impossibly wider. He bounces up and down like a giddy child and claps his hands together before saying, "show me!" I know it's a bad idea... But this is LJ... And he won't let it go if I don't... "Oh, it's so furry!"

He reaches out to touch it, and I can't help but jolt out of his unexpected touch. "D-don't do that… It's… sensitive…"

"Sensitive?" he asks, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "How sensitive?"

"You're a freak," I tell him, and he laughs; I missed hearing him laugh. It's deep and so happy, light and dark all at once, that hint of madness brewing underneath it all. That's how I know that his mind is off the earlier topic, and I can smile too.

 

* * *

 

"Timothy," my father's voice calls through the door, waking LJ and I up. Somehow, the clown has ended up on the floor, perhaps not to disturb me or, if someone came in unannounced, to save us some grief. He's always conscious of how close our relationship may seem; the same with me and Brian; but I know that he doesn't feel that way about me, and the others should too.

I slip to the door and open it, rubbing my eyes as I look at my father. "Hi, dad…"

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"Yeah," I reply. "I know you still want to talk… But I… I don't want to right now, if that's okay."

"I…" He nods sharply. "I didn't think you'd want to talk anyway… I came to tell you that your boss and I are going to have a conversation, shortly… It'd be a good thing if you were a part of that conversation."


	17. My Life is not My Own

Chapter 16: My Life is not My Own

_**Premeditation will kill the trust** _

_**They'll never know if you fear me** _

_**With every second collecting dust** _

_**I feel so bloated and weary** _

_**'cause she belongs to heaven** _

**_-Like Suicide (Seether_ )**

After my father leaves, LJ gets off of the floor and follows me out. "Good luck," he tells me. "I'm going to go find EJ… Even if he won't admit it, he was worried about you."

"Why?"

"Because you don't get disgusted when he eats near you."

I can't help the smile that appears on my face. "Compared to some of the other things I've seen, cannibalism isn't that big of a deal."

He snorts and shakes his head. "Only you would say that."

"I'm pretty sure Toby would say that too…"

"It doesn't surprise me… I'll see you later."

We split off in separate directions: him downstairs and me up to the third floor where Slender's study lies. I've been in the study many times before, so many times that I can, if I had any drawing ability, draw a perfect sketch; it hasn't changed at all in all of the years that I've been a proxy.

When I get outside of the door, I can hear the two of them arguing, but the first one that I can understand is my father. "I demand that you release my son from his duties as a proxy!" My father's voice is cutting, the tone I had only heard once in the weeks at his house, and that was when I had met the Winchester brothers. It's a scary tone.

"He chose to work for me!"

"Yes, I'm sure that was a 'choice', but Timothy was not in his right state of mind to make such a decision." Part of me wants to take offense to that, but I know that dad's trying to help. "You can have almost any human being on the planet as a proxy. You don't need him…"

"But your son does more for me than any proxy has in the past. He is invaluable… He is my mouthpiece to the other members of this household and to all humans who learn too much. He is the one that reigns in the others when I leave… He is the only one I can trust not to betray me and still be able to question the validity of my decisions… I need him…" In a strange way, that statement makes my heart swell with pride until confusion sets in. "he has come to be important in the current path this world is n."

"What do you mean?"

"How could you not know? You helped stop the last path… Or rather delayed it."

Disgust creeps into my father's voice, and he sets down something heavy with a sigh. Perhaps the heavy object's a glass…. It is a glass. He's got to be drinking again. "You mean the Biblical apocalypse."

"Yes," the operator hisses, sounding no more pleased with the idea than dad is. "The fates are rather angry with one another."

"Clotho didn't die?"

"No… She and Atropos are still battling for their father's affection's…" What the hell is going on?

"So you work for Atropos then?" Who's Atropos?

"Not willingly… but she created me… She had a hand in creating many of us old ones: Zalgo, Cthulhu and the Observer... She made some of the children as well… Like Laughing Jack. We all have a purpose in her story… Even you.'

"I…. I know…"

"She told you that Alexander Wright's body was empty She brought you and Janet Wright together."

It isn't a question. "I owe her Timothy's existence." His voice hardens and grows colder. "But that doesn't mean I gave her permission to use him in her twisted little games!"

I can feel the anger radiating off of my off of the Operator and he quickly snaps, "she won't ask for your permission Crowley! Her plans are already set in motion… Timothy will work for her of his own accord."

"How can you be so sure?" dad snaps back, and I find myself nodding furiously, despite my motion being hidden behind the closed door.

"Because, he'd do anything for his friends… Be case she's going to bring all of them back."

The floor creaks beneath my feet when I shift backwards, disbelief taking stealth out of the mix...The door opens too quickly for me to run away and I end up face to face with my father. "Uh… Hi, Dad."

"Get in here, Timothy."

"Yes, dad."

I quickly take a seat on the other side of the desk where my boss sits, a grim pleasure radiation off of him. "So, is this Atropos person really going to bring my friends back?"

"Yes," he hisses.

"How?" After a moment of silence that tells me that they don't understand; most likely, it has to be a lie. "What's a fate?"

" A deity of sorts that deals with destiny," my father tells me. "They decide the ultimate course of this damned planet… All of the damned planets actually. It's kind of infuriating thought. For the most part, they do not interfere with humanity directly, so if you're never influenced by a fate, you aren't important in their master plan, a minor variable, if you will…

"You are not a minor variable though… Timothy, Atropos wanted you for her own plan a long time ago. She was the one who told me to make the deal that sent my soul to Hell. She was the one that made sure I kept most of my personality so that I could 'choose' to have you of my own freewill and would never consider you a weapon…

"If it weren't for her, I would have never met your mother and you would have never been born."

I grit my teeth, biting out a question as my viperous other half coils up inside of me. "Why does she want me to exist?"

"Because you would be an ace in the hole against angels and demons alike." I can hear the smugness in my boss's voice; he's proud of me in a weird way. "You can make anything you that believe in real if you desire it so… And if you have enough power behind it…"

My father jumps in then, his voice also ringing with pride. "In the time of the devil's rising not to long ago, Jessie, the other one like you, killed people with itching powder and joy buzzers because he simply believed that they could. He even turned Gabriel's younger brother, Castiel into a toy. And that was without trying… When he was trying, he managed to both immobilize and exorcise his demonic parent and teleport to an entirely different continent.

"You could do things greater than that, and if Clotho gets her way, you'll be one of the only people who can stop this if she releases the devil again."

"…Again?" I know he mentioned it, but still that statement is disheartening.

"The Winchesters, more specifically Moose let him out of his cage last time…"

"Okay…" I decide to shove that thought out of my mind for the time being. "But who is Atropos to you exactly?"

"My boss." His expressionless face changes minutely, and he says, "she's the woman who raised me and created this forest… Without her, I would not exist…" I can't find it in my heart to thank her.

A set of pounding footsteps draws our attention from the conversation at hand, and the door swings open to reveal Sally. If it had been anyone else, they would not be welcomed by my boss with a calm tenderness, but Sally's his little girl, more or less. "What's wrong?" I ask, and the brunette girl I have begrudgingly begun to think of as my sister grabs ahold of my hand and pulls hard. "Sally?"

"There's a bunch of weird people who wanna see you."

 

* * *

 

The amount of tension that leaks out of the room is almost palpable as Sally leads me, the Operator and my father to the gathering in the manor's foyer. There's a group of six newcomers by the door, all of them with their faces covered. Brian, who's at the forefront of the manor's own group, looks spooked, and the moment I see a glimpse of one of their eyes through the glass lenses of his mas, I know why.


	18. Reunions are Supposed to be Joyous, Right?

Chapter 17: Reunions are Supposed to be Joyous, Right?

_**Watching as the light fades from your eyes** _

_**Was there ever anything more than your lies** _

_**How the hell did things turn out this way** _

_**Blank expression nothing more to say** _

_**It's apparent that my time is near** _

_**(Please don't go, I don't know)** _

_**But the joke's on you for now I have no fear** _

**_(How to find my way in_ _this dark)_**

_**All I used to love's a tainted gash** _

_**(Hands to hold, void and cold)** _

_**Burnt it all to cinders burnt to ash** _

_**(To lead us all away to the ark)** _

_**-To the Ark (Madame Macabre feat. Mr. Creepypasta and KyzerAqueron)** _

"Jay?" I murmur, and the lanky form of a man in a bird mask turns to look at me. His familiar blue eyes become hidden by the glint of light on the lenses again, but it can't hide his identity from me. "Sarah? Jessica?" Two women in the back, both hiding behind blank, faceless masks, not unlike my demonic boss's face, incline their heads, and I can imagine that they're smiling. "Amy." The final woman tugs her hood down further, hiding the glint of her goggles. "Seth." The other hooded individual waves at me and points to the last man who's face is hidden in a similar fashion to Toby. "Alex…"

My old 'nemesis' starts laughing, a tinge of mania to his voice. "Long time no see, Tim. Same to you, Brian."

"Bite me, Alex," my best friend replies and discretely moves over to my side. "Aren't you all supposed to be dead?"

"Technically," Sarah pipes up, "we are, but our new boss just couldn't stand to see us die… She said something about helping you, Tim."

"Atropos?" I ask, ignoring the widening of Laughing Jack's eyes to my right. "That's your boss's name, right?"

"Yeah. So you know her?"

"We've never met, but I have a feeling that won't remain true for long."

Slender's voice curls like a snake, making both Jay and Alex flinch, and I remember when I had a similar reaction to it. "She's outside… I'm going to talk to her… Are you coming, Laughing Jack? She is your creator, after all."

"Yeah, I'm coming," he replies and grabs my hand, tugging me with him.

"LJ!"

He laughs at my cry and tells me, "I just want my mother to meet my best friend." Before we can get outside though, a cloaked figure appears from behind my old friends, and LJ stops dead and stares up at the tall woman with surprise. She pushes back her hood to reveal a beautiful face, and she extends her arms as my friends part. "Mother!"

She wraps her arms around the monochrome clown and presses a kiss to his forehead. "Hello, Laughing Jack." Not letting him go, she looks up at the rest of us. "Slender… Crowley… And, Timothy… My how you have grown." LJ steps away from her then as she reaches out to cup my cheek with a hand. "Do you mind if I see your face?" My gaze flickers over to the others, the ones who don't know what I am, and from the corner of my eye, I see my father nod.

"Only you," I whisper and close my eyes, pushing my mask off to one side.

She hisses in a breath and cups both sides of my face, shielding my eyes from my friends' gazes, and then, only then, I open them and let her see their shade. "Beautiful," she murmurs. "So very beautiful… Did you know that your irises are such a pretty shade of blue?"

"Blue? I have hazel eyes."

"Hazel can turn blue, Timothy."

I can't help the irritation that wells up inside of me. "I'm aware of that… And don't call me, Timothy."

Her eyes widen. "What would you have me call you then?"

"Just Tim. Wait… Did you just say my irises were blue?" A nod. "They're normal again?"

A dark grin quirks her lips, and she quickly replies, "if you think that black sclera and blue are normal, then yes."

"What?" Oh, hell no… I can't deal with this right now. "Do they know?"

"Of course they do." She replaces my mask then and turns to Jay. "Why don't all of you go talk for a while? I'm sure that you all have much to catch up on."

Slender gives us the go ahead, and I grab Toby's arm and lead my old friends up to my bedroom. We barely fit into the small space, until the girls climb on the bed and I open the mostly empty closet for Toby and me to sit in. I know that he isn't comfortable around them, and the isolation from them would probably make him feel better.

My eyes fall upon the camera, and I grab it quickly. I want it gone… Its owner's right behind me. "Jay," I warn and toss it to him.

He looks down at it with surprise. "My camera?"

"Y-yeah… I never got rid of it."

"Including the tapes?" Alex questions, and despite the part of me that still wants to rip his throat out, hearing his voice calms my other half that's been on edge since they appeared.

"The ones that survived."

We slip into silence then, an uneasy one that gets to both myself and Toby, and he starts to twitch more and more. My tail wraps around his waist and tugs him closer to me, letting me pull his head to my chest and wrap my arm around him. "Calm down. You'll be okay."

"I know," he replies and allows me to pull off his goggles so he can lie more comfortably against me, but only once I remove my own mask. Anonymity is essential for our survival, and it's only when I show him that I trust the others that he can too.

"What's your name?" Sarah asks, and the youngest of us jerks in surprise.

He looks up at her, his hand curling in my shirt as he does so. "I'm Toby."

"Toby?" She removes her mask and brushes a strand of brown hair from her face, all the while offering a kind grin. "It's nice to meet you. My name's Sarah."

"Hi," he replies. "Nice to meet you too."

"Tell me," Amy starts. "How old are you, Toby?"

"Fourteen," he answers. "I turn fifteen in a few weeks." I'm surprised by how subdued he sounds, and I wonder if that new medicine for his bipolar disorder is doing this. Maybe, I should have let dad take him to a doctor instead of just trying out a new medication… No, I don't trust anyone normal with our secrets. "Masky?" Toby's voice catches me off guard, and I raise an eyebrow in question. "I am fourteen, right?"

The question reminds me just how faulty our memories are, and I'm glad that I won't damage that further. "Yes, you are." He breathes a sigh of relief. "Don't doubt yourself so much. You're getting better."

"So he's a proxy too," Alex starts.

"Yes…"

"You would have known that, Alex, if you would listen for once." Jay's scathing remark catches my attention, and I realize that he's removed his bird mask. His face carries new scars, including one that slices through his right eye, but he's still smiling. I can still see the hopeless grin there underneath the slight smirk. "Atropos told us that Slender had claimed another, a younger boy. She was talking about you… She had wanted to meet you desperately." A coldness seeps into his tone. "Timothy… Is it your fault that he became a proxy?"

"What?"

"I said, did you lead Slender to him just as you brought us to him?"


	19. It's a Cruel World when the Blindfold is Removed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait until we get to chapter 25! Ugh!

Chapter 18: It's a Cruel World when the Blindfold is Removed

_**Teddy bear, you are my teddy bear** _

_**You were comforting and quiet** _

_**How did love become so violent?** _

_**Teddy bear, you were my teddy bear** _

_**Everything was so sweet until you tried to kill me** _

_**-Teddy Bear (Melanie Martinez**_ )

"I said, did you lead Slender to him just as you brought us to him?"

My mouth goes dry, and words escape me as I gape at him. "W-what are you talking about?!"

There's a haunted look in his eye, but he still stares into my own, despite the obvious discomfort. "He stalked you when you were a child. He would have never found Brian if you weren't already connected to the Operator. Then you met all of us. Even if you seemed to be getting better, you were still under his thumb."

"Jay!" Brian cries. "That's not fair! If we're going down that road, Alex is just as much to blame for this!" When Jay used to reassure me that everything wasn't my fault, he'd bring up that exact argument, but it seems that he doesn't think that way anymore… Isn't it funny how death changes opinions?

He shakes his head, looking rather conflicted. "Hundreds of people think about the Operator as more than a fleeting thought, but he came after Alex. Why? Because he was already interested in all of us."

Before I can fight back, if I could even muster up the courage to do so, Toby pipes up, a fierce determination showing through gnashed teeth and narrowed eyes. When had he even taken off his mouthguard? "Masky and I didn't even know each other when I became a proxy! Even so, he's the one who took care of me, and made sure that the others wouldn't hurt me." His voice levels out as he continues, a twinge of sadness added in for good measure. "Besides… it's not like he could help what he was born as."

Hoody nods quickly and adds, "if we're going to blame anyone, it technically would be Tim's parents for keeping his heritage from him. Maybe if he knew, then we'd all have been safe."

"Don't blame them…" Finally, their gazes return to me, and I can't look at them; the cracks in the closet's paint are more interesting."

"Why not?" Sarah asks, perhaps in an attempt to be the antagonistic voice of reason that she'd always been.

"Because, they were just trying to protect me and everyone around me."

"What do you mean?" Bless Jessica's naivety; I'm grateful to see that it hasn't vanished.

"At ten years old, I burnt down the hospital I was in. And that was with my powers bound… Can you imagine what I would have done if they weren't? Especially without a proper mentor there… I don't know how the other one is surviving."

Knowing who I'm talking about, Brian smiles slightly. "Maybe because he doesn't have split personalities."

A knock on the door stops our conversations from continuing, and I nod to Hoody to open the door. On the other side, Gabriel taps his foot expectantly, and the moment it opens, he passes my friend a massive plate of cookies. "I thought this conversation might require a little bit of sugary sweetness before you were all at each other's throats." I'm pretty sure that means he was listening for quite some time.

"Where were you earlier?" I ask, and he ducks his head sheepishly.

"Well, let's just say that fates and angels don't get along too well after my brother Balthazar went back in time and stopped the Titanic from sinking." I'm pretty sure my eyebrows just disappeared beneath my bangs. "Yep… They don't like us, and I'm not too keen on being around them either… Although, for a fate Atropos is pretty cool. Clotho, on the other hand, is a major buzz kill. Anyway, I hope you all aren't going to kill one another. There's already enough fighting going on downstairs…"

"Between who?"

I know the answer before he opens his mouth to tell me, because I can feel it, and it's not pretty. "Atropos and Crowley."

"Figured… About me?"

"Yep."

"Fantastic."

He nods and starts to walk back out of my room. "I just thought you might want to know, in case there are explosions… The great horned king is in that kind of mood…" He swipes a cookie off of that plate and closes the door, leaving us all in shocked silence that Alex just has to break.

"So that's the archangel Atropos was telling us about." Sarah nods. "I expected something more intimidating."

"Well, Gabriel's more of a laid-back, 'let's pull some pranks and blame them on others' kind of guy," Brian supplies helpfully. "And then he gets mad… And you want to cry."

 

* * *

 

All is quiet when our group slips down the staircase, intending to check on the state of things and grab something to eat; it's EJ's turn to cook dinner, and that's a frightening prospect for all. When we finally make it into the kitchen, Laughing Jack's sitting alone at the small table there, his head held in his hands. Jessica opens her mouth to say something to my friend, but I shake my head in her direction and silently sit beside the clown. At Hoody's insistence, our old friends and Toby grab a couple of bags of chips and disappear back through the door.

Once we're alone, he raises his head to look at me, his eyes sorrowful and haunted. "What happened?" I ask and grab his clawed hand with my own.

"Isaac," he whispers.

"What about him?"

"He's alive…"

Knowing what Laughing Jack did to his old friend, I can't help the bewildered tone when I open my mouth next. "How?"

"Clotho brought him back," he practically laughs, an empty sound of despair. "Mother told me… I'll have to kill him again. What if I can't?"

I understand that feeling, but I won't tell him that. It isn't what he needs to hear. "Then we'll see if he can stay, with us…"

"He can't…"

"Then I'll kill him myself."

Surprise crosses his features. "I can't ask that of you."

"You don't have to."


	20. How Can I Have Family?

Chapter 19: How Can I Have Family?

_**Pay no mind what other voices say** _

_**They don't care about you** _

_**Like I do** _

_**Like I do** _

_**Safe from pain and truth and choice and other poison devils** _

_**See they don't give a fuck about you** _

_**Like I do** _

_**\- Pet (A Perfect Circle)** _

Despite it being EJ's turn to cook, Amy offers to take it from him, and so Alex is conned into helping too. Dinner, while delicious is a quiet affair, and the longer I sit there, the more I want something catastrophic to happen, like a meteor suddenly hitting Earth, right on top of us. I get my wish, more or less.

There's a knock on the door, a tentative one that pauses before starting up again with a more insistent rhythm. None of us want to answer it, but LJ stands up once Atropos waves him off. He doesn't get a step out of the room before the sound of the door unlocking reaches my ears. We all look up from our food as a boy steps out of the shadows created by the darkened living room. He's small and unassuming in appearance, but the way he carries himself screams power. He has mousy brown hair that he's let get a bit unkempt and innocent brown eyes, and underneath the glow of days spent in the sun, he's pale.

His gaze sweeps over all of us before landing on me, and he smiles. He holds out his hand to the being that appears in the darkness, and a black, clawed one wraps around his. I recognize that figure, and it chills me to the bone: Zalgo.

"You're Timothy Wright, right?" The boy's voice makes me turn my gaze away from the demon beside him, and I nod. "I'm Jesse Turner."

I can't help it; I drop my fork onto my plate as surprise runs through me. "Jesse… That Jesse?"

He knows what I mean; I can tell by his kind smile. "Yes, I'm 'that Jesse'." He pulls his hand from Zalgo's and steps further into the light, and I can feel his power reach out. Like calls to like, and mine rushes to greet his. "I've wanted to meet you for a long time… Since I found out you existed."

"The same… But why are you with him. Gabriel told me that no one would be able to find you."

"It was an accident." There are unspoken words, but I know how. He shows me that memory as clear as day.

_Jesse was walking alone in the mountains of the Appalachia trail, a small dog beside him. It was a stray, but it loved him dearly; he felt the same for it. He named it, Ivy. They had decided to stay on the trail for a while to watch the leaves change color around them, and for a while, it was just them._

_A group of boys came by, and Jesse didn't want to hurt them. They didn't feel the same way._

_He didn't want to hurt them…_

_He didn't want to…_

_So much blood…_

_Ivy?_

_Why aren't you breathing?_

_Why are you so quiet?_

_Why are you dead?_

_He hears the thump of four bodies fall to the ground around him, but he doesn't see them. All he can see is Ivy. Her black and white coat is matted with red, and her lively brown eyes are filled with emptiness, not a shine or a tear. Her spine is bent the wrong way, and her back leg is crooked wrong…_

_Why?_

_Ivy, why won't you wake up?_

_Ivy?_

_Ivy!_

_"Calm down, boy." Jesse's quiet sobs halt when he hears the telltale sound of footsteps behind him, but these steps are too large to be the boys' like he originally thought. "Did the dog really mean that much to you?"_

"Yeah," I reply. "I understand completely."

"Slender, if I may have a word with you." For the first time since they've arrived unannounced, Zalgo speaks up, and his voice sets me on edge. From the way his 'face' contorts, my boss feels the same way, and I can feel the oppressiveness as he answers affirmatively.

The moment they leave, I tell Jesse, "let's have this conversation in private if you don't mind."

"Masky?" I look over my shoulder at Toby and nod. "You don't want us to come with you?"

"If they know, then I don't mind," Jesse says. "It's up to you though…"

"We should talk alone." At the hurt look in the younger proxy's eyes, I tell him, "I'll fill you guys in later… I have a feeling this is a conversation that should be kept private."

 

* * *

 

Normally, I would have taken him up to my room, but I know that the walls aren't exactly soundproof. We're better off going outside to the garden that has fallen in disrepair in my and Toby's absence; we found that taking care of the plants keeps his emotions from swinging from one extreme to the other, but I still have no idea why.

I take a seat on the park bench LJ and I stole a few years ago, and Jesse sits beside me. "Why are you here?" I ask and pluck a dead leaf from the rose bush beside me. It crumbles easily in my hands.

"My mother died about a month ago, and I decided that I wanted to meet the last of my biological family." Surprise and shock makes me turn my head towards him to find openness and honesty in his eyes. "We're cousins… more or less," Jesse tells me. "My biological mother was named Julia Wright. She and Janet Wright were second cousins… Or at that's what the last angel I ran into told me."

I decide to ignore that last part; I don't want to know. "Why are you telling me this?" Part of me wonders why I'm not creeped out by the way Jesse's talking, so much like an adult when he's so obviously a kid. Perhaps it's because of Sally and Ben that it doesn't faze me.

"Because," he starts, finally looking a bit more childish, "I want you to come live with Zalgo and me."

"No."

He gives me a wide-eyed look of surprise. "Why not?"

"Because I don't trust him. It becomes a little hard to do so when he's tried to kill your family and critically injures you."

"He tried to kill you?" There's a tinge of anger in his mostly emotionless voice, and I wonder what he's going to say to his companion.

"No, he came to ask me if I would abandon Slender and my family, and when I'm startled… I sometimes freeze, and I can't speak. My friends, especially Toby, will speak for me if they're sure what I'll say." I wonder if it would be easier to just share the memory with him, but I'm not sure that I want to let him into my head. "Toby told him to leave, and Zalgo took it as a challenge and backhanded him through a tree…Toby can't feel pain, you see, and even though there was so much blood… He tried to attack Zalgo back… I knew that he would have been killed, so I jumped in front of the blow that was meant for Toby."

"What happened to you?"

"Zalgo nearly gouged out my spinal cord."

"Your… spine?"

"Yep. It still hurts from time to time, but not as much as my leg." He raises his eyebrow curiously. "My friend, Alex broke it a long time ago." I hear the crackling of twigs under heavy steps, and Jesse tenses up beside me. I know who it is though, and so I call out to him. "Smile, are you snooping?"

"Of course not, Tim. Growley was worried about you." He comes to sit in front of us. "Hello, other cambian," he says. "Before you ask, Tim didn't tell me about you… Gabriel did!"

"Of course he did," I reply and roll my eyes.

"Anyway," Smile starts, "Slender's decided to ship you off and told me to tell you."


	21. I Already Have a Family

Chapter 20: I Already have a Family

_**I take it all back** _

_**Paralyzed by the same old antics** _

_**Back and forth like some walking spastic** _

_**How can a fistfight be romantic?** _

_**Thinking back now will you ever feel the same?** _

_**-Paralyzed (The Used)** _

There's a crash in the mansion as the three of us walk back towards it, and at first, I pay it no mind. My other personality, on the other hand, is rearing its ugly head again, and I can practically taste the anger running off of it. Smile's hackles rise, and then I hear her voice. It's Natalie Ouellette.

About a year ago, Clockwork and Toby were dating, and it seemed pretty serious. However, Slender wasn't particularly fond of her, and to be honest, neither were Hoody and I. That's why she was unwelcome. So Toby and she would meet up in one of Rosswood's back alleys, and they would go on murderous dates. They seemed to be happy…

They were together for about three months, before they got into a nasty fight. She had told him that he should be more of a man and leave his 'family' to be with her and her alone. Toby didn't exactly take her remarks well; I'm surprised that she's still alive.

Another loud crash sets my nerves on edge, but I force myself not to teleport, for lack of a more accurate word, into the house. I can't afford to let the others know what I can do, what I am. I already risked losing LJ; I don't want to lose my... my 'family'.

Before we even get into the house, the brawl has migrated out into the yard by way of throwing the offending woman through the front window. Toby leaps out after her, a furious expression on his face. The anger radiating off of him is nearly palpable, and I wonder what she has said this time.

"Tell your new bitch of a boss that I'm not going to abandon my family! I thought I pounded that into your head when we broke up!"

"But she promised to bring your sister back Don't you want to see Lyra?" Toby falters in his assault then, giving the other serial killer a moment to breathe. "I know you miss her."

"Toby," I call out after a moment. "Do you really want to bring Lyra into all of this?" I already know his answer, and so I'm not surprised or mad when he ignores me in favor of attacking his ex-girlfriend again.

"He must really admire you," Jesse whispers to me. "I know that I would have been more than tempted to accept an offer like that."

I smile and reply, "it's not admiration. It's trust." He laughs and nods, and we turn our attention back to the fight.

To my displeasure, Clockwork ducks out of the way of a hatchet swing towards her head and nearly stabs the brunette when he gets to close of her. It skims across his mouth guard, making small cuts in the fabric, but it seems to be holding together until the serrated part cuts into it. His mask catches on the groves and tears more than cuts, saving the damaged skin underneath for the most part. It falls apart into two broken halves, and I can see the blood that drips down from his cheek; it's smell is pungent in the air, and it sends my other half into berserker mode.

'Family!' It cries. 'He is our family! How dare she harm him!'

I can't agree more.

Clockwork's head makes a satisfying thumping sound when I slam her head against the nearest tree. For a moment, I'm almost disappointed when she doesn't seem to be willing to get back up and be pounded back into the ground, and the next, I have a knife buried into my shoulder. The pain, sharp and stinging, doesn't debilitate me as I bet she is hoping it will. Instead, it goads me into acting, and I turn slowly, a sharp smile spreading across my face behind my mask. She can't see it, but I'm certain that she can feel the murderous aura that I'm emitting.

"H-hi, Masky," she greets, her hands shaking just slightly. "C-can I have my knife back?"

"Of course," I reply, and the dark, oiliness of my tone startles me just as much as it does her. It's my other half's voice, but it sounds so wrongly right to me. "Where would you like it back? In your arm? In your head? In your chest?"

"Masky, just take it out and drop it to the ground."

I turn my head to look at Toby. "Why?"

"Because you don't want to kill her."

"I don't," I admit and yank the serrated blade from shoulder. "But I will if I need to." It drops harmlessly to the ground, and I turn my attention to Toby's bleeding cheek. "This has to stop," I murmur, and to my delight, the bleeding stops and the new cut scabs over.

"Thanks," he whispers, and I nod.

Movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention, and I turn to stare down at the bleeding woman on the ground with disdain. Maybe, I really should have killed her. "She's going to kill you," Clockwork sobs and looks up at Toby with twisted affections… Yep, should have killed her. "If you don't come with me, Clotho won't hesitate to tear you to shreds… And she'll come for you too, Masky."

"Then she's going to be looking in the wrong place," I snap, and I can feel Toby's confusion seep into my veins. "Tell her that she has a better chance at freeing the devil again than attacking us…"

Brian, always one to note when I'm holding something back, asks, "where are you going?" Confused murmurs break out around us, and I can't help but want to laugh.

"With my cousin," I reply, and I look up at my father to catch his expression. "And Zalgo…"

"B-but… Didn't he try to kill you?"

"Not him," Zalgo says, finally speaking up again and drawing our attention to the two figures that emerge from the trees around us. "I was planning on killing Toby."

"Suck a dick," the brunette proxy snaps at him and glares at me. "You're leaving us?"

"I don't have much of a choice," I tell him. "It was already decided. I just agreed."

"But-"

"Please don't argue with me about this… It's not permanent; I can assure you of that… I'll be back before you realize that any time has passed…"

There's so much arguing around me. I can't tell who's even talking, but it seems that I don't have time to even explain myself. Jesse and Zalgo are leaving, and by the looks of things, Atropos is coming too. Jesse grabs me and starts tugging me away, and I turn away from the hurt faces behind me. This is for the best…


	22. Why Can't This be a Dream?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, I'm sorry that this is so short. But it's early!
> 
> Why is it early you ask? Because it's not getting updated this weekend.
> 
> Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving

Chapter 21: Why Can't This be a Dream?

_**You're gonna push your luck,** _

_**tell me you've had enough,** _

_**I'm taking off these gloves,** _

_**get down and lick the dust.** _

_**Wanna piece of this, wanna, wanna piece of this,** _

_**cherry pie, what you, what you gonna make of this?** _

_**One minute in the back seat you hit the switch,** _

_**I'm a predator, rapture, I am killin' it.** _

_**I am killin' it.** _

_**-Killin' It (Krewella)** _

I don't know this place. It's cold, and the snow that falls down is heavy and wet. Toby's walking beside me, his mouth guard pulled up and new goggles forced down to cover his eyes. He looks angry, and he won't talk to me. He won't even look at me.

His eyes scan the tree line meticulously, and I look there once or twice out of curiosity. But the pine trees are just trees, crowded together around the open expanse of snow-covered hills that lead towards the lights of what I assume is a town. He continues on past them, occasionally glancing, and then he stops.

I look over to my right and see a shadowy shape in the cover of the pines. I can feel its dark aura pulsing out around us, and it sets both Toby and me on edge. It feels oily and slick and dangerous… I know this beast from somewhere, but I just can't place it.

Five more of them emerge from the shadows, wearing human forms just as casually as we wear our masks. Toby, bless his soul, tries to be civil, even with the imminent threat, but I can see the way he tenses up. "Hello," he greets, sounding surprisingly calm. "What are you doing out here… in the open?"

Wait… Does he know these people?

"We could say the same about you, proxy… why are you here, other than to become our dinner?"

Toby laughs, a hollow sound, and he takes a step towards the creature. "As if you would want to eat me. I'm a stick, nothing more than a pile of chicken bones."

"And I'm a dog. Chicken bones are a favorite of mine…"

The leader who was talking grins, parting his lips wider than before, and I can see the row of shark-like teeth in his maw. It reminds me of stories from my childhood about beasts that took human form: Leviathans. He lunges at my human friend, making Toby have to dive and roll out of the way. I can see a bright red stain forming though, blossoming out from a tear on his left calf, and I know that the claws the beast has revealed have torn into his flesh. Toby doesn't notice though and quickly get back on his feet, a snarl wrinkling his nose.

The smell of blood is heavy in the air, and the beasts stop and stare at him with wonder. They know that he's hurt, but they don't know that he can't feel pain.

He takes the moment of hesitation to go on the offensive against his attacker, and I'm instantly reminded of why I used to be afraid of upsetting him. His hatchets are always sharped meticulously before he goes on a mission, and when one comes in contact with the leader's side, blood sprays out of the wound, a sticky, black ooze that looks more like oil than anything else. It hisses but continues on, almost trapping Toby under it, until he grabs its head and twists with all his might, hearing the bones snap.

It's still alive…

He swings his hatchet into the leviathan's neck and decapitates the monster, and he starts to run.

It's still alive…

The others come after him, like a pack of hunting dogs, the scent of blood to heavy in the air to resist. He's limping, and they're gaining on him. He can't fend them off, and he's pushed down into the snow, staining it with the red of his blood.

They're going to kill him…

The one he had decapitated has its head back, and it smiles horrifically, sadistically. The lead leviathan grabs Toby by his leg and swipes a forked tongue across the blood leaking form the wound its claws made. Its fingers are stained with inky blackness, and its blood mixes with his. He screams as his veins begin to pulse with black.

I've had dreams like this before, ones that seem so real that they're panic inducing.

He shakes, coughing, and the leviathans laugh and leave, not caring about the poor child left on the ground.

This isn't a dream… No… This has to be a dream… Toby! Toby!

"Toby!"


	23. He's a Kind Monster

Chapter 22: He’s a Kind Monster

_**All alone, just the beat inside my soul** _

_**Take me home, where my dreams are made of gold** _

_**In the zone where the beat is uncontrolled** _

_**I know what it feels like** _

_**Come on make me feel alive** _

_**-Alive (Krewella)** _

I open my eyes to find myself kneeling beside my friend’s prostrated body, and he looks at me with fear, barely able to move through the seizures racking his body. Black blood drips thickly out of his mouth, staining his shirt and face, and he heaves in a breath. “T-tim,” he manages to stammer. “Leviathans…”

“Hush,” I tell him, and quickly cradle his head in my arms. “I know.”

“Dying…” He smiles in that stupid way that’s supposed to make me feel better, and for a moment, I do. Then as quickly as the flicker of happiness appears, it ends.

_I wish that he would be able to survive their blood._

His breathing slows and then stills.

His heart stops; I can’t hear it anymore…

My eyes widen, and I can feel tears begin to form, and I wonder why this had to happen to him. I gather him up in my arms, intending on taking him back to the mansion, or at the very least to a place where it would be nice to sleep… It wouldn’t be right to leave him out here to rot. Perhaps, the hill where I buried Jay all of those years ago, not far from the cemetery where Jessica was put to rest.

A hand curls tightly into my t-shirt, and a small whimpering sound reaches my ears. I look down at the teenager, and with equal parts fear and delight, I watch as his soft blue eyes open again. “Masky?” he asks, and I, against my will, break into sobs.

“Toby…” I whisper and clutch to him tighter, bringing about a yelp of sorts from him, not from pain, but from surprise.

“Masky… What did you do to me?”

“What do you mean?”

His eyes narrow behind the tinted lenses of his goggles, and he tries to shift out of my grip, unsuccessfully. “I was going to die. There was Leviathan blood in my system… What did you do to me?!” The coldness of his tone, the violent edge to it that I’ve never heard uttered in my direction before, it prickles my skin and makes me want to drop the teenager and hide. “Tell me what you did!”

“I-I…” I duck my head sheepishly and look away from him. “I just wished that the blood wouldn’t hurt you.”

“Y-you what?” Toby’s voice is barely a whisper. “But the only thing that their blood won’t kill is other… Other Leviathans.”

Only once he voices this truth do I feel the change within him. There’s an oily slickness in his soul, darkness and old… Old magic… Old creatures… Old vengeance… An old one… Leviathan. There’s anger, such a spiteful rage, and it’s aimed at me, for my indiscretions and my wrongdoings. I wonder if he’ll ever forgive me for what I have done to him… If he doesn’t, then… I don’t know… I don’t know what to do!

“We need to get you back home.”

“Why?!” he snaps. “So you can run off again for another three months and leave me to be dismembered by the rest of our family?”

“What are you talking about?” The last part leaves me worried, more worried than I had already been; what’s happened in the time that I’ve been gone?

“Clotho is using the Leviathans against us, Masky… We’ve been trying to figure out a way to kill them.”

The unspoken concern greets my mind with a venomous bite. “They aren’t going to use you as a test subject.”

“How do you know that?”

“I won’t allow it… And neither will BEN, Sally, LJ, EJ, Smile, Slender, my father, Gabriel, Hoody or myself.”

He cracks a small smile. “You didn’t include Jeff.”

“I don’t like Jeff.” He laughs and coughs wetly, bringing up another mouthful of blood from his earlier reaction to the Leviathan blood in the system. Even though I know that he should be alright now, worries me. "We need to take you home," I insist.

He looks away from me again, a betrayed look on his face, and he whispers, "you really are going to run away again."

"No, I'm not."

"Prove it."

"I will." I still don't think that he believes me.

* * *

 

The park is deathly silent when Toby and I 'pop' into existence, and I unconsciously find myself clutching tighter to the frightened teen in my arms. It shouldn't be so quiet here, even with the lack of humans; there should be chirping birds and scampering ground creatures. The silence feels wrong, oppressive, dangerous... Someone's there.

"Masky?"

The lilting voice relaxes me, and I set Toby on the ground to free up my hands and quickly become displeased when he tries to get up. After a glare is leveled at him, he sits back down again, and I call out, "LJ!" I hope that my friend will emerge from his hiding place, so I can see him again, and my hope is fulfilled as he leaps from a tree and lands before me, a wild smile showing in his sawblade teeth.

"You're back!" he exclaims. "Toby too!" I nod, solemnly. "What's wrong?"

"I need to tell the others what I am."

"Why?" He draws out the small word, emphasizing the fear and worry in his voice.

"Because I messed up Toby."

A low growl leaves the brunette's mouth, and he looks up at me sharply. "I'm not messed up, Masky. So what if I'm not human now?" He realizes what he's admitted half-a second later, his mouth really is his, and my, worst enemy.

"Run that by me again?"

"I changed Toby into a Leviathan."

A dumfounded and wide-eyed look comes to the monochrome clown's face. "Oh."

"Yeah..."

"Oh..."

"LJ?"

"Oh, my God!" Part of me wishes that I am unable to say this, but another part of me is laughing itself to death as I watch Laughing Jack start to hyperventilate. "He's a... He's a Leviathan?!"

"Yes," I reply, trying to sound unphased as I possibly can because I know that it's making Toby laugh. "As of about twenty minutes ago."

"Oh, hell... Oh, sweet circus... How?!"

"I did it."

His eye twitches, and he repeats, "you did it?"

"Yes."

"We need to tell Slender and the others."

I heave a sigh and grab the slim teenager again, holding him close to my chest. "I know. I'm going to have to tell the rest of them... Will you stand beside me if they become afraid of me?"

"Of course," he replies, silver eyes shining brightly. "And your old friends will stand beside you too."

I flash him a concerned look. "Who are you talking about?"

"The Hornets. The ones that were affected by Slender just like you."

"Oh, no... That's not good... Wait, the Hornets?"

"Yes, that's what they call themselves now. They're calling you and Hoody Hornets too."

"Oh, cute... That's exactly what I've always wanted to call myself.” The sarcasm isn’t lost on them, for which I am thankful, and the three of us venture up to the mansion that hasn’t changed at all since I left. This won’t be a pleasant conversation. But I know that it’s a necessary one.


	24. I Never was Good at Keeping Secrets

Chapter 23: I Never was Good at Keeping Secrets

_**Before I cross my heart** _

_**And hope to die at all** _

_**Take off my mask** _

_**And leave the lies to the liars** _

_**Before I close my eyes,** _

_**I'm going to give it up** _

_**-Hospital (The Used)** _

The door squeaks open with an ominous echo as the three of us slip inside, not wanting to wake anyone up. Dawn is on the horizon, and with the Leviathans active, I have no doubt that Slender wants everyone at least inside of the mansion before the sun takes away what little cover we rely upon. It's so silent…

"We should go to bed," Laughing Jack whispers and looks around cautiously. "We can deal with this tomorrow." Toby and I agree and follow him up the stairs, and on the second floor, he pauses before going into his room. "Don't be alarmed when you go to bed… There aren't enough places to sleep anymore, and they were very reluctant to split apart… You, Toby and Hoody are sharing a room right now so the girls can have Toby's and Alex, Jay and Seth can have Hoody's."

"Okay…" I reply softly, and he nods and disappears into his colorful room. Part of me wishes that I could just crash in my room alone and contemplate how I'm going to tell Jesse and Zalgo where I've gone, not to mention how I'm going to tell everyone that I'm half demon. I can already see how well that conversation's going to go down.

"It'll be okay."

I look down at Toby and smile. I trust his judgement; he may be a mild asshole, but he's honest, most times. He's right. "I know… Let's go to bed, kay?"

"Yep… Hoody's been worried sick about you."

"Don't doubt it."

The door to my room has always been rather squeaky, and it makes me cringe as I carry Toby inside. But Brian doesn't move an inch from his spot curled up on the left side of my bed, and the sight makes me smile. Toby lies in the middle and I on the right, as I always have. Sleep somehow comes easier than it has in the past few weeks.

As I fall asleep, I can hear Hoody's voice in the silence, and it makes me smile. "Tim, it's good to have you home."

 

* * *

 

The night slips back into the park shortly after Hoody shakes me awake, and when my eyes snap open, I jolt the teenager between the two of us awake as well. "What?" I ask softly.

"Slender knows that you and Toby are back, and he wants to know why you returned without finishing your mission, Toby." Even through the black mask, I can tell that he's worried, and I nod. "What happened last night? …why did you come back?"

"I'll tell you downstairs… I have to tell the rest of them…"

"No…" He shakes his head. "You can't tell them about yourself."

"But I have to… I have to let them know."

 

* * *

 

The dinning room is filled with the members of our strange 'family' when Toby, Hoody and I finally make it downstairs.

They're eating and squabbling over something insignificant, not even noticing us for a moment, but just before I can open my mouth and draw attention to us, Sally notices. "Masky!" she cries and launches herself out of her chair and into my legs.

I lift her up into a more comfortable hug, holding her tight to my chest. "Hello, Sally. Have you missed me?"

"Yep! Every day!"

"That's good," I reply and carry her over to her seat and sit her down again. I look around, my eyes narrowing behind my mask. "Where's Slender?"

"Right here." His hissing, staticy voice feels like an electric shock, electrifying my heart in the process, and I turn my head to look at the other door where my boss and the other 'hornets' are. "I'm guessing you brought Toby home last night."

"I did."

"And were you responsible for his disobeyment of orders."

I grin sharply, knowing that my town is inhuman at best. "In a way, I was, but he was never going to be able to finish his mission."

"Why does Toby smell like Levianthan?" EJ asks, wrinkling his nose as the blind man looks over at us.

"Toby was attacked by them." A little bit of my confidence fades as I begin to unveil our secrets. "And he was infected with their blood." Gasps ring out in the room, tinged with both disbelief and horror. "And I did something," I whisper, my voice hollow and echoing. "Toby is..."

"I'm a Leviathan," Toby pipes up, a twinge of an inhuman growl in his voice. "Masky saved my life by making me into a monster"

There's silence in the room until the younger members of our family promptly begin to freak out, tryng to decide what they should do, with the exception of my old friends who stand completely still, like dolls in the background. But it's Jay who finaly breaks the sort of spell over the six of them when he finally speaks. "Are you going to tell?"

The words sound eerie in this context, and I contimplate keeping my secret just that. But if I did, how would I explain how I saved Toby? How would I explain all of the weird things that have been happening? "I am."

"Then tell," they command, all of the hornets with one singular voice made from thier own tones. No one else seems to notice this echoing sound, but I do. Something's wrong with them.

"I'm half-demon," I call, ending the shouts with that one sentence.

"What?" Jeff asks, a disbelieving look in his lidless eyes.

I smile and remove my mask for the first time around my rival, and I open my eyes slowly. I hear gasps of horror and derission and catch my reflection in the back of a spoon; it's warped, but it does the trick. My eyes are black just as they should, and my tail frees itself from the confines of my pants, flicking with impatience and fluffed with fear. "I'm the antichrist."


	25. We're Going to Need Some Help

Chapter 24: We're Going to Need Some Help

_**Well I was there on the day** _

_**They sold the cause for the queen** _

_**And when the lights all went out** _

_**We watched our lives on the screen** _

_**I hate the ending myself** _

_**But it started with an all right scene** _

_**-Disenchanted (My Chemical Romance)** _

The silence returns for a few moments, agonizing moments in which I wonder if I should have elaborated. But then, Jeff just has to start laughing.

"Y-you, the antichrist?" He leans into his hand, full-blown chuckles wracking his frame. "How could you be the antichrist?!"

"I was just born that way." He does stop laughing; in fact, he laughs even harder at that.

My other half snarls in my mind, and I feel its rising anger in conjunction to my own. It's hard not to let it out, to let it tear Jeff apart… I just can't stop it completely, and I'm not sure that I want to.

I smile as sweetly as I can, and the glass in Jeff's hand shatters. It cuts him shallowly, and blood drips down, ruby against the paleness of his flesh. I can hear Toby gasp behind me, and the beast in my soul croons affectionately to the dark creature in the young proxy. I know that his new blood is reacting to that scent, the sweet smell that my darker half harkens too, even as a child, and I know that it's a worrying feeling. I know... I know

'It'll be alright,' I whisper into his mind, and I can feel his surprise all too well. Yet, he relaxes, probably chalking it up as one of those weird things that I can do, which is good enough for me.

"Jeff... Didn't my father tell you all who he is?" I know that answer too, but I want to hear it from him.

"No," he bites out, obviously trying to fight back the fear that grips him. I don't blame his alarm; it's a natural response nowadays.

I flicker out of existence then, teleporting away and back, this time with a battered and bloodied soul in tow. "This useless, corrupted, parody of a human being is named Ruby, and she is a traitor and a liar. But she'll tell the truth about this, or... I'll put her back where I found her instead of someplace a bit... Nicer."

"Y-yes," she hisses. "Y-your majesty."

"Tell them who my father is."

"Fergus Crowley... The current King of Hell." She winces when my fingers dig into her arm but sneers at me anyway. "And I may be a traitor to his reign but he's the traitor to our kind… Falling in love with that little witch, and then he has the gull to help hunters."

"Would you have preferred to be killed by the devil?" It's an honest question that I know most demons don't think about. My father did, but that doesn't make him a traitor.

"How can you be so sure that he would have killed us? He is the father of our kind after all. Well not you. You're half human."

"And what's so wrong with that?"

"Nothing of course, little prince. It's just you know as well as I do that you don't belong here, but neither do you belong in Hell. And for your sins, including existing when abominations like you are hunted daily by angels and high demons alike, everyone you love will die." She laughs, a hollow, broken note on the edge of insanity. "Look what happened to your cousin's mother. Little Jesse Turner who refused to help us... if I remember correctly, his mother met such an awful, awful end. And the same thing happened to all of you little friends."

"Enough," I snap, not wanting to get into this.

"And it'll keep happening as long as you fight your purpose. Clotho wants an apocalypse, one your father, those stupid hunters and their pet angel denied her." My tail coils around her throat then, attempting to suffocate the demon, but she laughs. "Souls don't breathe, Timothy!"

"I was under the impression that you don't have one." Her grin is cut off as my tail tightens, causing her pain, even if she doesn't need to breathe. "You know who's leading the Leviathans now, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," she drawls, wheezing as she does. "He goes by Caster Morgan, and by the scent clinging to that little Leviathan over there, he's had a run in with the new boss."

I look over at Toby, and through the tint of his goggles, I can see how wide his eyes have gotten. I have to talk to him... "Thank you for your cooperation, Ruby. I'll be back shortly."

 

* * *

 

Hell isn't a place that I ever thought I'd enjoy, but from the moment I step foot back in the dark realm, I feel its warmth was over me, calming the beast inside. This is the place where it belongs, and I can't change that. I leave Ruby in a cell of sorts to heal a bit more from her injuries before he torture begins again. The demons, the ones who are loyal to my father, want to reset her and make her listen to the current authority, but I know that she'll never listen to him... But me on the other hand...

They all fear me. I know it, and it sends a thrill through me.

They worship me though, like I'm some sort of deity, and I can hear some of them making bets on how long it will be before I snap and they'll be free to wreak havoc on the mortal world. I don't want to let them, and I'll do whatever I have to do to make sure that they never get their chance.

But they leave me alone, despite the 'hero' worship, and I can think for a few moments before I have to return to the others.

"Timothy."

I turn around to look at my father, and a smile quirks at my lips as he comes to stand beside me on the ledge that overlooks the damned souls on racks. "Hi, Dad."

"What are you doing here?"

"I told the others who I am... And I 'borrowed' Ruby for a little while."

He raises an eyebrow in curiosity, but he doesn't say a word. He trusts my judgement. "I heard about Tobias."

"How?"

"Atropos told Gabriel. She's sorry for what happened... She says that it was not a part of her plan."

"It better not have been." I grit my teeth and turn my gaze away in an attempt to quell my rising anger. "Does she have a plan for the Leviathans?"

"Not one that either of us are going to like."

"What do you mean?"

He sighs heavily. "The Winchesters, Timothy. She wants us, all of us including Zalgo and Slender and all of your friends, to team up with those denim-clad nightmares. It's part of her plan to fix what Clotho is attempting... And... she has something to do with Death too... She wouldn't give me all of the details, but I doubt that we'll be in the dark for much longer."

"We better not... I don't know how much more of this crap my sanity can take."


	26. Hunters and Monsters Should Not Be Allies

Chapter 25: Hunters and Monsters Should Not Be Allies

**_Drag me into the night, cause it's the one thing you keep._ **

**_You knew that I had to die, so you could finally sleep._ **

**_This blood all over your knife, you know you earned yourself._ **

**_And it's a matter of time until you burn in hell._ **

**_-Mother Murder (Hollywood Undead)_ **

The mansion is silent when I return, and after a moment, I determine that they've all left, perhaps to calm themselves down and collect their thoughts. I wonder how many bodies will be left in their wake.

'Timothy.' Well, I was wrong about them all leaving. 'You went to see your father.'

It's not a question, but I look over my shoulder at the tall demon and nod nonetheless. "I told him what Ruby told us… And he told me what he and Atropos have been talking about."

'I am aware of her ideas as well… The Hornets are going to fetch those hunters tonight. Hoody and Toby went with them.'

"Alright," I reply and open the fridge, a smile forming on my face when I see the lasagna bearing my name. I pop it into the microwave and snag a coke from the cupboard, popping the top and offering it to my boss. "Try it."

'You know I do not drink human… beverages, Timothy.'

"I'm aware. But I've seen you eat jelly beans and cookies when you think no one's looking."

'I do not.'

"Yes, you do." He sighs and grabs the can, splitting his mouth as he does so. In the blink of an eye, the can is empty and his prehensile tongue is sliding into the sharp opening to lap at the remains. "Uh… Good?"

"Yes," he replies monotonously.

"Do you want another-?"

"Yes."

 ---------------------

By the time that the other proxies and the hornets return, Slender has gone through half of a case of coke and the majority of the Oreos. He quickly shoves the package my way and makes his mouth zip back up into a smooth façade. I don't know why he doesn't want the others to know about his sugar addiction, but I find it kind of funny. "I'll stash you some pop in your study."

'Thank you.'

"Not a problem."

The two of us leave the kitchen then and go out into the dining room where the hunters, all trussed up and more or less harmless for the moment, are sat down and tied to the chairs as well, and Dean, the older of the two, narrows his eyes at me. I don't understand why, at first, but then I remember that I never put my mask back on; it's sitting right on the table in front of the younger brother. Right now, I'm not sure if this will be problematic or beneficial… With the way my life's been going, it's probably problematic.

"I'm guessing you remember me," I chime, letting a broad smile cross my face, and I make a small flicking motion with my index finger.

Once the gag is freed from his mouth, Dean Winchester all but growls at me. "Yes, I do. It's so lovely to see you, cambian."

That catches me off-guard. "How did you know?"

"Jesse told us." I turn to look at Samuel who offers me a soft kind of smile. "He asked us not to engage you, because you weren't, and I quote, 'an evil son of a bitch'."

I can't help it; I start chuckling. "That sounds like him, and I should know, I've spent the last couple of months trapped with him and Zalgo…" Slender makes a noise of displeasure behind me, and I look up at him, raising an eyebrow in question. "I came back, so I don't know what your problem is."

"The fact that his paperwork buddy left in the first place," LJ replies, coming through the other door with a bag of cotton candy. "Here." He tosses it over to me.

"What's this for?"

"Present because you're the bestest of friends."

"You poisoned this, didn't you?" It's a good thing that he knows that I'm joking, because if I were to offend him…

"Of course I did!" he chirps and drapes himself over one of the dining room chairs. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't try to kill you every now and again?"

"The normal kind."

"No one asked you, Hoody!"

"As touching as this is," Dean snaps suddenly, catching our attention once more. "Why did you kidnap us?"

There is no simple answer, really, but I know that on some level he'll understand what I have to say. "You need to get rid of the Leviathans, and so do we..." When Toby blanches, I add, "at least the ones that have to go."

"You want our help?" Sam asks incredulously.

"At this point, we don't have much of a choice."


	27. The Children are not Alright

Chapter 26: The Children are Not Alright

**_And I've grown familiar_ **

**_With villains that live in my head_ **

**_They beg me to write them_ **

**_So they'll never die when I'm dead_ **

**_And all the kids cried out,_ **

**_"Please stop, you're scaring me"_ **

**_I can't help this awful energy_ **

**_Goddamn right, you should be scared of me_ **

**_Who is in control?_ **

**_-Control (Halsey)_ **

_"Tim, I want you to kill me."_

Those words… I never thought I'd hear them from Toby. He's always been so happy with the direction his life's gone in, excluding those few bad times, but as an overall rule, Toby's happy… I didn't understand why he asked me that… at first.

I had to think about all of the little things that happened after the Winchesters agreed to help us, and I thought of his reactions, the ones that he let me see and the ones that I probably wasn't supposed to.

I think it started when Sam spoke to Toby for the first time.

* * *

Toby and I were sitting out in the garden when Sam showed up, his arms crossed and body tensed because he knows that he can't allow himself to fully relax. "Hey," he greets.

"Hi," Toby replies and digs another hole with his fingers. "We need more of those orange flowers, the ones that Smile dug up last fall."

"Tiger lilies?" I ask and offer up a nod of greeting towards the hunter. "I'm sure Brian would come with us to pick up some if we ask."

"You just don't want to be caught buying flowers in your hometown. Is it too girly for you, Masky?" Sam laughs, drawing my and Toby's attention away from the flowers, and the younger proxy narrows his eyes behind his goggles. "What?"

"Nothing! Nothing!" The brunette raises his hands in defense, a grin still tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I've just never seen a couple of monsters talk about flowers before."

"How'd you know I was a monster?" Toby asks and tugs his mouth guard up higher on his face.

"I kind of just figured… I just can't figure out what kind of monster you are… Well, I have an idea, but I kind of doubt that the Slender demon would keep something that dangerous in his house."

"What do you think I am?"

He gets a calculating look as if trying to come up with another answer, before he sighs and says, "a leviathan."

Toby runs away before I can say anything.

* * *

That next morning, I find Toby outside by himself, rocking and tugging at his hair harshly. "What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me…"

I know that he's lying to me, and when his stomach growls, he flinches. "I'm hungry, Tim."

"Well, what do you want to eat?"

"…the hunters…" That answer catches me off-guard, but it makes so much sense.

I lay my hand on his shoulder and sit down next to him, and he pointedly looks away. "Toby, I need to see." It takes a while before he finally looks at me. His teeth are sharp, sharp enough that he could tear into flesh like a hot knife through butter, and they look wrong in his mouth. Wronger still are the tears that spill from his suddenly dark eyes.

I pull him to my side, just as I've always done, and lay his head on my chest. "It'll be alright," I whisper and run my fingers through his hair to calm him. "I'll get you something to eat in a little bit, okay?"

"No."

"You have to eat... Please, for me." I can hear his sobbing start to pick up, the muffled noise like a scream to my sensitive hearing, and he nods into my jacket. I hold him until he cries himself to sleep, and I pick the teenager, bringing him up to my bedroom where Brian's already asleep. I contemplate waking the other up and taking him with me, but after Toby curls closer to my oldest friend, I give up on that. I scribble out a note and leave it on the nightstand for them and close the door behind me on my way to the sublevel.

There are only two people who live in the basement: and Eyeless Jack, and the latter is whom I want to see. I knock on his door and take a step to the side, anticipating the snarling face that answers a few moments later. "What do you want?" he snaps, 'looking' over at me.

"I need you to show me where I could hunt without drawing too much attention to myself."

He raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "Why would you want to hunt? Thinking of becoming a cannibal?"

"No."

"Then why?" The snap in his voice is eased by the genuine wonder that slips in. "You've never wanted to hunt when I offered before."

"It's not for me… It's for Toby."

His eyeless sockets widen, and he smiles softly. "I wondered when he was going to cave, but I should have figured you'd cave for him."

"Cave?"

"Leviathans' favorite food is human. And considering the humans that we live with and had visiting, it isn't all that surprising."

"So you'll help."

"Of course… Just let me get dressed."

* * *

Killing is surprisingly easier when it's to help someone you care about.

I knew that when Jay was alive that I would have been able to kill Alex, and while I'd be kind of horrified in the aftermath, I would have done it without a thought.

I don't know the young woman that EJ picks out for us, but he says that he's been watching her for a while. He tells me that she's a misleading bitch who sleeps with guys left and right and ends up at the abortion clinic more times than I would care to know. No one would miss her, not really. The only reason that he hasn't killed her himself is that he's positive that her kidneys are failing from the liquor that she inhales.

I still feel a little bad.

"Remember, this is for Toby."

Those words are all the push I need.

Knowing that he'll make a fuss if he's presented with a dead body and told to eat, I enlist EJ's help in cutting her body up and freezing what I don't present the youngest proxy when he comes downstairs for breakfast. "What's this?" he asks, an innocent look in his eyes.

"Breakfast, now eat."

Even though I know he distrusts the secrecy, he takes a bite, and his dark eyes light up. "It's good!" He's silent then, save for the sounds of enjoyment as he devours the woman's liver and the flesh from her arms. I refuse to tell him what he's eating until the pile of freshly carved flesh is gone, and he looks up at me with gratefulness. "That was human flesh, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was…" There's a conflicting look on his face that I can't hope to place.

* * *

We don't talk for the rest of the day; I spend mine in Slender's study, and he stays in the garden, planting tiger lilies. I'm almost asleep when he comes into the room, and he locks the door behind him. "Tim…"

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Tim, I want you to kill me."


	28. The Leviathan Bloodlines

Chapter 27: The Leviathan Bloodlines

**_Two sides to every story, here's a little morning glory_ **

**_Breakfast of a mirror, dying slow seems a little boring_ **

**_Burning like a flag, walking straight into the breeze_ **

**_'Cause there's two types of people, you are weak or you are me_ **

**_Yeah, what's another life time like mine_ **

**_We all die a little sometimes, it's alright_ **

**_Did you come to say your goodbyes to this life?_ **

**_We all hurt a little sometimes, we're alright_ **

**_-Outside (Hollywood Undead)_ **

"It's really cold… You should wear your sweatshirts."

"We're fine, Jessica."

"I'm serious." Toby and I look behind us at the brunette woman, and she thrusts my black sweatshirt at me and politely passes Toby his. "I don't want either of you to get sick."

"I don't think that we're going to get sick," Toby interjects but accepts the jacket from her anyway and drapes it across the side of the bench. "Why are you really out here?" Jess looks surprised by the bite in his voice, but she hasn't been around him much since I came back. After a moment of continued silence, he growls, and I can hear a tearing sound. In his hands is a tiny leaf that he proceeds to shred, adding to the pile between his feet; I just planted that rosebush.

Her eyes narrow, and she looks like she's about to snap at him, for a moment. But then she smooths her skirt and plasters a smile on her face. "I was worried about you. Actually, we were worried about you… All of us, the Hornets, I mean."

"Don't bother. I'm fine… Now seriously, why are you out here?"

She sighs. "Mother wants to talk to you... She said something about bloodlines."

* * *

Jessica leads us out of Rosswood's Park and into a little cafe downtown. Jay and I had went there a couple of times to pilfer their wifi and upload some entries. The owner recognized me back then, because my mother used to take me here after my checkups, and the kind, aging man waves to me and smiles. He knows exactly what I want when I order, and he, much to my embarrassment, fixes the drink himself, refusing to let his employees even write my name on the cup. I asked for a small hot chocolate with peppermint chips; Mr. Manelli always gives me a large hot chocolate with peppermint chips and extra whipped cream. My name is written with tender care, and he pats my hand softly when he hands it to me... It's my full name. He only wrote my full name when mom and I came here together."

"Sorry about your mother," he whispers, and I nod. "I know that she's looking after you still, and I know that she'd want the people of this town to do the same, the ones who remember you. If you need anything, don't hesitate to come here..." His eyes grow dark then, and I remember how angry he had been when I first accepted my role as a proxy when Slender tried to rid of my existence as much as possible. Mr. Manelli remembered though, perhaps because I wished it so, and he cursed the fact that everyone either seemed to think I was dead, left, or in some cases, never existed at all.

"It's okay," I reply in the same hushed tone. "Thank you, though."

"Of course, Tim." He looks me over then, the darkness in his eyes fading. "My how you've grown from the little chatterbox that Janet brought in all those years ago."

"I wasn't a chatterbox!"

"Yes, you were, and an adorable one at that."

* * *

By the time that Mr. Manelli and I have split apart, Toby's stiff as a board and a few shaders paler than he normally is. He's shaking just slightly, and his newfound sharp teeth grind each other as he fights back the urge to scream. I wouldn't know what was said between Toby and Atropos if he hadn't made her tell me. I know that he would have never told anyone else.

"What is it?" I ask when I sit down, having immediately been yanked into the booth the moment I got in reaching distance.

Atropos looks at Toby with concern, only to have him snap, "he needs to know too."

"About what?"

"The leviathan that Toby shares blood with is Edgar, the second most powerful of the leviathans. When Dick was alive, Edgar was the second in command, and now that he's dead, Edgar's the one in control…"

I raise an eyebrow in question, because I just don't understand. No, we didn't know who turned Toby, but that's no cause for this amount of concern… "I don't understand what's so groundbreaking about this." I look over at Toby who averts his eyes, and I can see a single drop of black blood bead up where his canine breaks skin. I turn back to her and feel a frown work its way on my face. "What aren't you telling me?"

"My sister knows about Toby, of this I am certain." She lifts her cup of tea up to her mouth, probably to buy her some time, and when she sets it down, she wrings her hands together. "Edgar knows. I ran into him a couple of days ago, and he wants to meet Toby."

The surprise that her revelation creates is quickly overcome by rage, and I have to fight to keep from shouting, or growling; at this point, I don't know what would be worse. "Why does he want anything to do with him?"

"It's a special occasion," she replies. "Toby is the first leviathan to be created since God locked them in purgatory. He's the first leviathan child…" She reaches over and takes the brunette's hand and clutches it tightly. "I know that you had a problem in the past with your father… But that's what Edgar technically is…"

"No." Toby's voice is barely a whisper, but it stops her.

"What?"

"I'm not going to try and convince the leviathans to join your side." Despite the bandage covering the side of his mouth that's towards me, I can tell that he's practically snarling. He shakes his head and yanks his hand from her grasp, claws appearing where normal fingernails used to be. "I don't know if you remember, but I _killed my father. What makes you think that I would ever go back to that kind of hell?!"_ No one reacts to his whispered hiss, and I let out a sigh of relief and release the hold I have over my power.

"It could turn the tide in our favor."

"Your favor," he snaps and practically pushes me out of the booth. He stands up a second later and grabs my arm to tug me away. "I thought you were different, Atropos… But you're just as manipulative as Clockwork was." Her mouth is agape in surprise the last that I see her that day, and both halves of me chuckle with Toby joining in shortly after.


	29. When You Think that You Know Someone

Chapter 28: When You Think that You Know Someone

**_Who could give a fuck about a kid with a dream?_ **

**_'Cause stories aren't told about the ones unseen_ **

**_With a gleam in his eye, his middle finger to the sky_ **

**_Crooked smile on his face, he doesn't think he can die_ **

**_So grab a pick and an axe, 'cause we try, we cry_ **

**_Into the bottle of Jack, we die inside,_ **

**_So when you look in his eyes, what you see now?_ **

**_Murder the monster you've made and watch him bleed out_ **

**_-_** **_We Are (Hollywood Undead)_**

Rosswood is a very small town.

It's that stereotypical type of small town, where everyone knows everyone else's business and gossip flies faster than the birds; it's the backbone of a small town. Every time someone decides to move out or in, the entire gossip backbone lets everyone know who's moving, why and if they are worth a place in social standing.

Brian and I relied on this when we were in high school; it's how we knew the moment a potential bully or prom queen showed up and if a potential alibi would arise. Living in the middle of a park though tends to stop gossip from arriving, and I was okay with that because that isn't my world anymore. But when Jay comes home, Jessica and Alex in tow, all looking kind of bewildered, I realize that I shouldn't have cut ties so quickly.

Brian and I are sitting in the living room, watching _Donnie Darko_ and contemplating how much Frank reminds us of Slender. It wasn't meant to be a serious conversation, but nonetheless, we're more engrossed in it than we are in the movie, even though it is one of my favorites. Brian remarked that if we were getting into the comparison thing that he would have to start calling me Donnie. I can't find it in my heart to lie in order to find a weak contradiction that we both know won't really prove anything.

That's when they walk in, and Jay looks right at us and asks, "did you know that your parent's are moving out of Rosswood?"

"I'm going to assume that you're talking to Brian and excuse myself from this conversation."

Brian affixes me with a glare before returning his hard gaze to our other friends. "No, I didn't. And I don't particularly care."

He did.

* * *

When we were kids, Brian and I learned not to trust in the promises of his parents. His mother promised that she'd leave him on the side of the road in another state if he didn't stop talking back. His father promised to beat him within an inch of life if he ever told anyone the truth about the 'accidents' that befell him. They both said that, if he continued to sneak out and see me, they'd send him to boarding school. They never made good with any of those promises, and I was grateful for it. We doubt that they're actually moving too.

Brian's parent's house is on Chamberlin Drive, about a block and a half from my own. It's a dark gray building with tiny windows and even tinier window boxes that have dead flowers rotting in them. The grass is patchy and yellowed, but the white picket fence around the yard is just as pristine white as ever. None of the lights are on inside, and there's no movement whatsoever; it's just as dead as the abandoned houses on either side of it. There's a car parked out in front of it, but they have two, or at least they used to. We decide that they're either sleeping or not home.

"Should we go inside?" Brian's question catches me off guard.

"Would you like to?" I ask him, and he stares at it for a little longer before nodding.

"I left some things here when we ran away." He means when we went off to college, the day after he turned eighteen.

"Are they in your room?"

"Yeah."

"Take my hand."

We appear in the little room in the back of the house and promptly start coughing as dust invades our lungs. Brian looks around, and he sighs. "Well, it's good to know that they probably never set foot in here again after I left." He drops to the floor and reaches under his bed for the loose floorboard that we used to hide his allowance and dirty magazines under. What he pulls out isn't a magazine though.

"What is that?" He holds the little box out to me, and I open it slowly, expecting something horrifying to be inside. Like an eyeball or a finger, but it's not. "A key?"

"It's your copy," he says. "I forgot about it."

"What's it to?"

"A safety deposit box." He replaces the floorboard and stands back up. "I forgot about it... Hell, I don't know what bank it's too either."

"Are you sure that it'll still be there when you figure out where it is?"

"Hopefully." He looks over at the door, and I can practically feel his frown of distaste. "Do you remember that we left your birthday present here when we left, and you wouldn't let me sneak back in to get it or get you a new one when it actually became your birthday?"

"Yeah."

"It's in the basement, if they haven't thrown it away."

"Brian... I don't need it."

He grabs my arm. "Either you take me down there or I sneak through this house. I'm getting you your birthday present."

"It was ten years ago!"

"So?" His hood pushes outwards where his mouth is, and I can tell that he's sticking his tongue out. "I'm going to go get it."

When we appear in the basement, the first thing I realize, beyond how dark it is, is that it reeks, and not in the funky old basement kind of way. Brian gags beside me, and I shake my head, wrinkling up my nose at the smell. A small ball of flame forms in my hand, and I look over in the direction of the decay and suck in a horrified breath. There's a woman, torn apart with old blood staining the walls. Her skin is rotting, and there are squirming maggets writhing beneath it. But her spectacles look familiar, and so does the wedding ring on her hand... The corpse is Brian's mother.


	30. The Corpse Eaters

Chapter 29: The Corpse Eaters

**_I can hear the static callin' for me_ **

**_Deep inside the broken T.V._ **

**_All self-control destroyed completely_ **

**_As I make my sudden entry_ **

**_I can hear your breathing rise with tension_ **

**_As I fill you with my poison_ **

**_-Splatter Party (Toma and Ken)_ **

I never really liked Brian's mom, but seeing her corpse makes me to take back some of the nasty things that I'd said in the past, not all of them but some. I look over at Brian expecting to see him at least mildly freaked out, if only because this was the woman who brought him into this world. But he's not even looking at her.

"Tim."

I turn my head to see him pointing and follow it down into the gloom, and there I see what he's got his gaze affixed upon. It's another body, twice as torn up as his mother is. The eyes are hanging out of the sockets, and the mouth is wrenched open with the shreds of a bitten tongue. Big bites of flesh are taken out of its shoulder, and its guts are spilled out all over the floor. "Do you know who that is?" I ask him, and he nods.

"It's my father."

"No way… That's sick."

"It's kind of funny."

"You're sick."

Brian gives me one of those looks, that even through his hood I can still see; it's the kind that says shut up but in a playful sort of manner. It's never really changed, even after all of these years. "I'm not sure what killed them."

A soft sound catches my attention, and I glance over my shoulder, only to turn completely. "My guess is ghouls."

"Why?"

"Because carbon copies of your parents are standing over there." True to my words, two people that look identical to his parents are standing over by the staircase, and I wonder when they got there and how they got there without me noticing. "And they're looking at us like they want to eat us."

The surprise on the monsters' faces when Hoody starts laughing makes my day. "Oh, this is just precious." He slides his hand back to the holster on his hip and pulls his gun. "If you're going to pretend to be someone, you should really pick someone who I don't hate more than our friend Alex."

"Please don't," the female ghoul begs. "We're just trying to get out of here before the leviathans come."

Brian cocks his gun and raises it level with the male's face. "Why do you think that the levianthans will come here?"

"For their leader's son… They've been killing off any non-human creature that they come in contact with them."

I lock gazes with my friend, and we both nod. "They're after Toby." I click my fingers together, and the lights overhead flicker on since we know who's in the house and where. "Now, do you know where the leviathans are right now?"

"In this town," the female answers. "We ran into them the other day… And we hid out in the woods. Those people were your parents?"

"Yep," Brian responds, popping the 'p'.

They share a look, and the male one finally speaks up. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I never really liked them. I just needed to get Tim's birthday present that I left here a few years ago." He slides his gun back into the holster. "Have you guys seen a black and white guitar that used to be down here?" His mother look-a-like nods and heads out of the room.

"Do you need help getting rid of the bodies?" I ask.

"If you would…" I look over at the bodies and picture them being transported into the woods and being buried at least six feet below the earth; if they were fresher, I would have sent them back to the mansion for Toby; and they disappear. "How'd you do that?"

I smile at him. "I'm a cambain."

"Oh."

"Found it!" the female calls out, and she walks in carrying what has to be the most beautiful guitar I've ever seen. "Where'd the bodies go?"

"Don't worry about it," I tell her. "You guys go on and head out."

"Take whatever you want too, besides the guitar," Brian cuts in. "I don't want it, and they don't need it anymore."

They smile at us, revealing far too many teeth, and they head up the stairs, leaving us alone in the basement. Eventually, Brian looks at me and asks, "you teleporting us out of here?"

"Yeah…" I grip his arm, intending to do so when I hear the two ghouls start screaming.

A strange fear overcomes me, and I race up the stairs, hoping and praying that they're alright. What I find though is nothing short of sickening. The male's head is lying on the floor, completely unattached to the body that lies, an arm and leg barely attached, on the ground by the table. The female, her arms ripped from the sockets and bottom half laying on the ground with guts sliding to the floor, looks at us with fear in her eyes, and the creature holding her twists her head off. "Ghouls are such nasty creatures," the leviathan says and drops her broken body to the ground. "I didn't expect them to be idiots too."

"Why did you do that?" I ask, my gaze locked upon her deadened eyes.

"Because Edgar commands it so." She smiles at me and extends a bloodied hand as if I'd grab it. "My name is Annie, and I am one of many who have been sent to retrieve the young one."

"You can't have Toby," I snap, and the window rattle in their frames.

"But he's a young one, and children are so precious to us… He's the first baby leviathan in all of our existence… It's exciting!"

"I swear to God that if you don't shut up and get out of my way, I'll kill you."

"Oh, and what will become of your dear friends then?"

Brian appears behind me then, a phone clutched in his hand. "Toby and Laughing Jack are missing."


	31. When I Lost the People I've Come to Rely Upon…

Chapter 30: When I Lost the People I've Come to Rely Upon…

_**Cold is the hand on the angel of death** _   
_**Drawing you to its embrace** _   
_**From a caress** _   
_**Proceeding to strangle your neck** _   
_**Falling into and from grace** _   
_**This is your fate** _   
_**Stare in the eyes of your sin** _   
_**Every morning before you begin** _

_**-R.I.P. Everyone (JJ Demon)** _

I don't know if I can kill a leviathan. I've studied how, both the way that ends with the user trapped in Purgatory and the more user friendly blades of darkness and Death's scythe. It's sad that those are more user-friendly.

But there are only two of my kind. No one knows the extent of our power... Maybe... Maybe I could try.

I just have to wish it so… I wish with all of my might that the bitch in front of me will just die, and my other half, who had been more or less silent for a while, rises to my desires. Its tendrils wind around my mind, and I have to close my eyes, intending to reel it back in. It whispers in my mind so softly that I can barely notice, its anger is practically palpable. _'Let me get rid of her,'_ it whispers. _'I could get rid of this pest… So easily.'_

Her eyes narrow, and she takes a step backwards. She looks so frightened of me; I don't blame her. I take a step forward. "No," she whispers. "Stay away from me."

 _"Are you scared?"_ we ask and take another step forward, drawing our power around us. _"Tell us where they've taken Toby and Laughing Jack."_

"I cannot…"

 _"Tell me now."_ Her blood spills into our mouth, and I wonder what my other half is thinking. _'She will tell us.'_

Through her, through it, we see what has happened. Her blood… it should kill me, but just his taste lets us see, and soon enough, we will purge ourselves of it. Leviathan's are cut from the same cloth, a mesh of liquid beings without form. Even if they have split apart, they're still interconnected. We can see, not though Edgar or Toby's eyes, but through the eyes of another, one who is close to the one who's blood is sliding down our throat.

_Toby's standing across from a young woman, a blonde teenager that looks so much like my friend that it makes my heart ache, and Toby's crying. "Lyra," he whispers, and I realize just who she's supposed to be. The girl is Edgar in the form of Toby's sister. "Stop this!"_

_"Toby," Edgar asks, still refusing to shift back into a form that isn't Lyra Rogers, "won't you calm down? You're home now."_

_"I already have a home, and it isn't with you! Especially, when you're wearing my sister's skin like a new suit!"_

_Lyra's face frowns and begins to shift to the face of a man in his thirties… I'm almost thirty… Well, hell… Edgar snaps his fingers, and a masked man with blonde hair comes into the small room, locking the door behind him. In this man's hands is a worn and faded Jack-in-the-box… No. "But one of your friends is home too: Laughing Jack."_

_"Leave him alone."_

_"Then stay with me, son."_

_I know that Toby wants to attack the leviathan in front of him, make a commotion or most of all rescue LJ from that man, but he knows that it won't end well for anyone. "Why?" he asks, steeling his gaze._

_"Because," Edgar replies and advances on Toby, stopping when he sees the teenager twitch with such violence that it could be mistaken for a flinch. The leviathan's gaze softens. "Are you afraid of me?"_

_"No." The sternness in Toby's voice must sound like denial to Edgar who gestures for the rest of his group to back up._

_"I'm not going to hurt you."_

_Toby doesn't like to be coddled or to have pity openly expressed to him, and from Edgar's tone of voice, that's exactly what he's doing. "I'm not scared of you, asshole!"_

_Edgar blinks at him, clearly confused. "Then why did you flinch?"_

_"I twitched." When this doesn't alleviate the leviathan's confusion, the brunette elaborates. "I'm broken." I thought I'd convinced him otherwise. "Do you know what Tourette's syndrome is?" Edgar nods. "I have that. I'm not scared of you. I got rid of what scared me years ago, and you certainly aren't my father."_

_The raven-haired creature doesn't understand how much of a complement that is and that his anger at hearing it is unjustified. "I am you father!" he snaps. "You are my child; we share blood!"_

_Surprised, Toby really does flinch this time, and he looks up at the docile man with such innocent confusion that I'm surprised it doesn't snap him out of his anger. "That's not what I meant!" He sounds broken, and I realize then that Toby does wish for this man to take care of him on some level. He wants a family, one that won't hurt him like the last one did._

_Edgar's already leaving though, and he isn't listening. My eyes follow him, and I can't see my friend anymore. "He's not leaving," Edgar growls and then makes a sound that no human will ever be able to imitate. "Keep him locked in there for the time being, and find that bitch, Clockwork."_

_"Sir?" the blonde man asks, and he adjusts his grip on Laughing Jack's box, "what are you planning on doing with him?"_

_"I'm going to make him realize that he's not a human anymore… Clockwork hurt him, and so he'll get a chance for revenge… That should hopefully be sufficient to make him see, but if I have to, I'll make him eat his own friends until he gets the fact that he's is a leviathan though his thick skull."_

_Wide-eyed with fear, the blonde takes a step backwards and hugs the box to his chest as if to defend it from harm. "But you promised."_

_Edgar grins darkly. "Issac, Laughing Jack is yours as promised. You helped me, and so I won't take your clown away from you."_

I come to and drop the leviathan to the ground. She looks up at me with fear as I force myself to expel the black blood. "You should be dead!" she cries, and I smile.

"You don't think that I know that." I bend down to look her in the eye. "Now, tell me where they are. I know that Edgar has Toby and Laughing Jack, and I want them back… So you can either tell me where they are and leave, or I can try my best to kill you. I might be able to kill you… I bet that if I tried hard enough, I could."

"I don't know where they are!" she screams.

"Are you lying to me?"

"No! No! I'm not high enough on the pay grade to know!"

"Really… If I find out you're lying to me, I will kill you, and I will laugh and laugh."

* * *

When we get home, Atropos is sitting on the couch, a grim look on her face, and Jay appears out of the kitchen to stand beside her. "Timothy, if I may talk to you privately."

"Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Brian too."

She stares into my eyes, willing me to back down, but I won't. "Fine," she sighs. "I'm assuming that you know about Toby and Laughing Jack."

"We know."

"Yes, but I doubt that you know that the leviathans have decided to betray their accord with me."

Brian stiffens beside me. "You mean that they're still our enemies."

"Yes… Unfortunately, and at this point, we must assume that both of them are lost."

"No, they're not, and we aren't going to assume anything." I grit my teeth, scowling with such ferocity that it feels like my mouth will split open on the sides, and I'll look like Jeff, as horrifying as that idea sounds. "I'm going to get them back, even if you," I look up at Jay, "and the others don't help."

"But-"

_"No, Atropos! We will save LJ and Toby, even if we have to die trying!"_


	32. I've Lost My Sanity

Chapter 31: I've Lost My Sanity

**_In our own little world_ **

**_Forever lost to passing time_ **

**_No one knows what it's like_ **

**_To wear a mask that you are trapped inside_ **

**_One day the purple clouds_ **

**_That hover over us will fade_ **

**_Then we'll be free to cut the strings_ **

**_To wipe the tears but now we walk in chains_ **

**_Tonight we roam & If they listen really close_ **

**_They can hear us sing our song_ **

**_And I can't give you back the things you had_ **

**_But you don't have to do this on your own_ **

**_Even if you're never coming home_ **

**_You're not alone_ **

**_-The Puppet Song (TryHardNinja)_ **

Atropos summons the hornets a few moments later and whispers something in Jay's ear, low enough that I can't even hear, and he nods, quickly removing the mask that he's always wearing. "He will not leave, mother."

His voice sounds so detached, more so than it has, ever since their return, and the others nod their affirmation. "You don't have to stay," Amy add in an equally hollow note. "You have work to do."

"Thank you," the fate replies and sends me a dad look. "Please stay, Timothy. Tobias is gone, and there is nothing that you can do… I'm sorry."

"Sorry!" I snap, but she doesn't turn back. "You back-stabbing, lying bitch!"

"That's enough," Jay whispers, frowning rather deeply at me, and he pushes me down onto the couch. Normally, at least anymore, no human would be able to do so when I'm this angry, but this is Jay. This is the man that I had to watch die over and over, because I couldn't grasp the reality that I was alone, again. This is the man that held my head as I fought against my other half, willing it to stay in my subconscious where it couldn't hurt anyone. This is the man that forced me to celebrate Christmas and New Year's… and my birthday. "Toby's as good as dead, and you don't stand a chance to find him."

This… This isn't Jay.

"Who are you?" I ask, staring into dull blue eyes that refuse that refuse to sparkle and at his mouth that refuses to smile… That lifelessness of a corpse on marionette strings, because even the most skilled of puppeteers can't fix death.

"What are you talking about?" he asks, but there's nothing but hollowness in his voice, not anger or confusion… Nothing.

"You aren't Jay," I murmur and push the concerned hand, Amy's from my shoulder. "I'm going to save Toby, and you can't stop me!"

A brief flash of anger comes to my old friend's face, and he unholsters a gun; I didn't even notice he had one; and levels it at Brian. "You aren't leaving." There's a terrifying glint of sadism in his eyes, and his voice is hollow, no remorse, nothing for what he's threatening to do... I can't lose Brian again.

I snarl at my once friend, and an inhuman sound leaves my throat as my power gathers up inside of me. It's so much easier when I'm angry and when there's something on the line, someone I want to protect. There's blood running through this imposter, and it's so easy to take command of its flow and bend the pressure and movements to my will. My father had exploded someone before, and I realize now, with this thing in my grasp, just how easy it would be to do so myself. But I've never fancied that kind of thing, and even when I'm angry, I won't do that.

It takes a bit more effort, but just as quick as it would have been, to push the vertebrae out of alignment and sever nerves and blood vessels, and Jay crumples to the floor, his neck twisted awkwardly, broken… dead. A part of me wants to wail, my human half, because he's broken, tossed around and destroyed, like a doll… This thing is just like a doll.

He isn't Jay.

The doll twitches and sits up, grabbing his head and twisting it back into place, all the while, his face never changes from the strange blankness that has come over it. It's the same blankness that overcomes Seth's face, and I have to duck to stop him from stabbing me in the neck. The others come to share a look, and all of them, except Jessica and Jay, who's still sitting on the floor, rush at me.

I know that I should protect myself, but my worries are for my oldest friend who has to fling himself backwards to escape the brunette girl's wrath. A knife grazes my cheek, and I can taste my own blood in my mouth; but none of that matters when I see her pull out a gun of her own. "Stop it!" I yell, and the thing calling itself Jessica does. She gives me a sad-looking smile, and the others look at her, a silent communication going on between the look-alikes. "What are you?" I ask again, and Jay's impostor finally stands back up.

"Do you really want to know?"

_"Yes!"_

"I'm Jay," he says, and I'm just about to snap his neck again, or maybe even explode a body part or two, when he elaborates further. "I'm Jay because I have his memories." He taps at his head. "You didn't really think that Mother was capable of stepping that far into Death's territory, did you?"

"Then how did you all come back?" Hoody inquires and flinches when Jessica's gun trains on him once more, and I wish that he hadn't left his own weapons behind this morning.

"They're fake souls," I respond, startling both Alex and Sarah. "Zalgo told me about their kind not too long ago… I didn't make the connection, but it makes sense. You're just reacting in accordance to the memories. You're not anything close to our friends." I take a step away from the two startled dolls and root around in my pockets for vial of inky blood. "I'm ashamed that I didn't notice it further… Perhaps, I was just too happy at the idea of you all being alive again."

The moment I uncap the vial, Brian shouts at me, "you can't drink that again."

"Watch me," I reply. "If Atropos is going to stand in my way of saving Toby, then I just have to figure out everything without them."

The thickness of that black blood in my mouth is enough to make me choke, and I drop to the ground, dimly aware that the hornets and Brian are watching me, only one with genuine fear for my safety. I can't see them though, because the leviathan's eyes are my own, and what I see makes me want to both laugh and puke the blood back up.


	33. I'll Do Anything to Fix This

Chapter 32: I'll Do Anything to Fix This

_**You were sharp as a knife to get me** _

_**You were a wolf in the night to fetch me back** _

_**The wishes I've made are too vicious to tell** _

_**Everyone knows that I'm going to hell** _

_**-The Wolf (Phildel)** _

My eyes are standing at the back of the room, a stiff body of an observing bodyguard. Edgar, dressed in a pressed suit and tie, holds Toby in his lap to keep the teenager from bolting away from the terrifying creature's clutches, and he pets at the brunette's hair in a gesture that's supposed to keep him calm. However, Toby's face is twisted up with an intense mixture of fear, anger, hunger and disgust, probably at himself. "Tobias," Edgar whispers, "aren't you going to eat?"

"No!" he snaps, and he quickly closes his eyes to block out the fearful look that his ex-girlfriend shoots him. "I can't eat her!"

"Why not? I thought you hated her." Clockwork starts crying at this, because she knows that it's true, and she expects Toby to change his mind.

Toby, instead, tries to wrench the leviathan's arm from around his waist, rather half-heartedly, making me think that he's tried before. Edgar won't budge though and motions towards her, and the leviathan next to the one that acts as my eyes walks up to the girl with a fillet knife. It grabs the back of her head by her hair, wrenching it up and making her cry out around the gag silencing her. Toby opens his eyes just in time to see him slide the knife across her throat, stabbing more than sliding into the delicate flesh, and her blood spills forth in a torrent.

"You haven't eaten at all today," their leader speaks and motions again for the leviathan to cut into her before the life has even left her eyes. It cuts into her arm; I personally would have gotten to her internal organs, because Toby loves liver if he doesn't know what it is; and Toby squirms, clenching his mouth tightly shut. "You need to eat, Tobias." He accepts the flesh and presses it to his closed lips, painting his mouth red with blood. "You're still growing."

After a while, Edgar sighs and pulls it back, leaving streaks of red behind, and Toby's gentle brown eyes darken upon opening again. He's looking at Clockwork's corpse, and he licks his lips unconsciously. Edgar purrs at this and brings the flesh back to his mouth, and Toby bites into it ravenously, making an almost inhuman, but somehow still childlike sound as he allows the older leviathan to feed him. "Good boy…" He nips at the monster's hand when it's empty, and Edgar snickers. "Do you want more?" Toby nods once. "How much more?"

"All of her…"

"Then go eat, my little monster."

* * *

I drop to my knees, coughing up the black blood and then vomiting into the trashcan that Brian sets in front of me. "What did you see?" he asks, and I shake my head before retching again. "Is Toby alright?"

"If you mean, are they feeding him? Yes."

Brian grimaces. "Did he kill someone?"

"No… Edgar had one of his flunkies kill Clockwork."

Brian's eyes widen. "Clockwork's dead?"

"Yes." I sigh and stand up after a bit, having come to a decision while I was still under the influence of the blood. "We have to go get him… now." I look up at the hornets, more specifically Amy who had seemed so kind to Toby, and I ask, "will you help us?"

The others turn to Jay for his decision, and he crosses his arms. "While we do want to take Toby back from the traitors, there's nothing that we can do."

"Nothing you can do?" I can hear the condescension in my voice, and I'm not even trying at this point; Jay knows that. "You could help me get him back!" The flat look he gives me tells me that he would rather rip out his own heart than help me do anything. "I'll do anything you want if you just help us!" That catches his attention.

"Anything?"

I nod. "Anything."

"When we save Toby, you have to leave. Go somewhere that we'll never meet you again." There's no hesitation in his voice when he utters his desire, and I'm left speechless but nodding nonetheless. "And you have to admit, before you go that all of this is your fault..."

"Alright."

"You can do that?"

"Yes."


	34. Whenever I Think That Things Can't Get Much Worse...

Chapter 33: Whenever I Think That Things Can't Get Much Worse…

**_I've come way too far for this_ **

**_I've put in too much work_ **

**_I've dealt with too much hurt_ **

**_I've worked way too hard for this_ **

**_But we live in dark places, dark places_ **

**_-Dark Places (Hollywood Undead)_ **

"Do you know where we're going?"

I look over my shoulder at Alex and sigh softly. "Honestly? No…"

The ex-director groans. "Why did we have to follow him, Jay?"

"I know he's in a warehouse, okay?" I can't help the growl that slips out with those words, but I've already had enough of Alex questioning me. "If I knew exactly where he was, I would have already teleported there and been back here by now!" I suck in a few breaths and try to calm myself down, because my anger will do no one any good.

My phone starts ringing not two minutes later, and I contemplate not answering. This number though, this number is to the burn phone Zalgo gave to Jessie, so he could call me if he needed help. "Who is it?" Brian asks.

"Jessie." I flip it open quickly, expecting to hear his young and somehow mature voice. "Hello?"

"Timothy Wright, we have your cousin, and we need you to bring us something very specific or we'll kill him." Instead, I'm greeted by this bitch. "Do we have an understanding, My Prince?"

If God wanted me angry, there are far easier, less catastrophic ways to do so. If he wanted me to hate the fates and all of this bullshit, he didn't need to give me more incentive. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Huh?"

I growl and reach out to my cousin. He's unconscious, but after some quick prodding at his mind, the other cambian wakes up and reaches back. 'Are you okay?'

I'm certain that he's smiling when he replies, a self-assure kind of grin that he's gotten from his time with Zalgo. _'I've been better… And these demons are flipping shit that you aren't responding like they want you to."_

I smirk in return. 'Where are you?

_'An abandoned campsite, just lock onto my position and 'pop' over.'_

'I can do that.'

"Prince Timothy?"

"What the hell do you want?" I ask, and I know that I sound snippier then menacing but I really don't care today.

Her voice steels in an attempt to sound strong, but I've lost any ounce of care for her. "We want you to free the devil from his cage."

"Excuse me?" I can't help it; I start laughing. I know that I shouldn't but that demand… How stupid can they be? "Oh, I don't think that you're in any position to make demands."

"I'm not?"

"No. You may have my cousin, but you can't manipulate me by using him."

"Why not?"

In that moment, we disappear from the back alley, 'popping' out of existence and reappearing in another. This place is clearly a campsite, and judging by the type of trees, one not far from the town where I grew up. The ground Is littered with the bodies of children and their counselors, and there's a hauntingly terrifying child sitting across from the fire, tied up and dropped in the middle of a dead man's trap. Jessie looks pissed, and rightfully so.

"Because, I'm already here."

Someone screams, I'm not sure how, and I really just don't who it is that's screaming. The woman holding the phone turns to look at me, her black eyes wide with disbelief and terror. "So," I ask, "demons are such awful backstabber, but I thought that you had more self-preservation than this. You're like cockroaches…"

Jessie laughs around his gag, and I can hear his voice as clearly as I would actually talking to him. _'Watch it. They may be scared of you, but they've got this gun.'_

'What kind of gun?'

_'A replica of the colt, the gun that could kill anything.'_

You know… whoever maintains irony is an asshole.


	35. The Universe Decides to Screw Me Over

Chapter 34: The Universe Decides to Screw Me Over

_**I'm the guilty one behind** _

_**Those children look happy inside** _

_**let me set your place** _

_**around the others.** _

_**You'll be alright.** _

_**The sounds close to the hall** _

_**It's me, waiting for** _

_**the perfect moment to** _

_**make you DIE , so goodbye.** _

_**-The Puppet (GatoPaint)** _

There's no pain when I open my eyes, and I wonder for a moment if this is the afterlife.

I know better than that though. My father's told me what Hell looks like, and Dean let it slip about the nature of Purgatory. I doubt that Heaven would be as dingy as this empty street. My eyes slide over the sides of the street, looking for a sign of life, until I see a man sitting on a bench under a dying tree.

_'That's Death…'_

Of all forms that I thought Death would take, a stern-looking, older man was one of them, but I didn't expect to see him mowing down a bag of fried fish and fries from the shady vendor across the street. Although, I guess there are odder things that I could have seen. I don't know how my other half knows who he is, but, although reluctantly, I have to listen to it. "Death?"

He looks up at me and smiles rather minutely, in a way that barely constitutes a smirk. "Hello, Timothy." He then takes a long swig from the cup beside him. "How did it feel to die?"

"It hurt," I reply and take a seat next to him. "So, am I really dead?"

"No," he admits. "That replica, while impressive is not the same as the original colt. You'd have suffered a temporary paralysis at best, if I hadn't wanted to talk to you."

"Why?"

His smile grows, and I feel a flicker of fear that I desperately try to squash, even if it is an understandable response. "I hate leviathans, you know." He crunches down on a fry, an amused and delighted hum leaving is mouth. "They destroy and devour everything. It leaves the balance in disarray and my work in absolute chaos… My daughters tend to do this as well."

The fear suddenly takes a backseat to curiosity. "Daughters?"

"The fates, Timothy. My daughters were the six original fates, and now, only two remain." He gains this wistful look and turns his attention to the leaves that suddenly fall from the tree across the way. "It was so chaotic before they were created, and for a while… Things were orderly, but you know how siblings can be. They destroyed one another's work in an attempt to impress me, and all it did was create more chaos… So I had to give them purpose… It's a contest of sorts to decide who will be the last one standing, who will help me usher in the end of the world when it is time. It's a winner-takes-all situation, and they've gotten very creative with their ideas."

"So it's a game to them," I snap, and he chuckles again.

"More or less, and they take it very seriously…" He stops for a moment. "You though, were not their idea, but they both picked you up so quickly."

"What do you mean?"

"Their sister, _ wanted to create the first, powerful cambian, but they were so against it… Until, Atropos and Clotho agreed that you were going to be the trump card to whomever possessed you… It's funny… You've never belonged to either of them, and you never will, even if you had pledged your allegiance to Atropos' lackey."

"I don't belong to anyone," I stress, hoping that he catches my meaning that I will not let him control me either.

"Oh, I agree. You have choice… I'll let you have that choice if you help me out with something."

Choice… Choice is something that I've never really had… It would be nice… "So, what do you want me to do?"

Death smiles slightly, leaning back just enough that he appears relaxed to the keenest eye, but not to someone who is glances. "I want you to save that boy, Tobias Rogers. Whatever leviathans you have to kill in order to do so, I will support you. In fact…" He holds out his hand, and a scythe, black like the tar in my cigarette, appears from a twist of shadow and smoke. "This is mine… With this, comes my blessing."

"Your scythe… You're helping me?"

He gives me a flat look. "Of course. You can't kill leviathans, but I can kill anything… With my scythe, you could kill anyone or anything that you want to… Keep that in mind." He crumples up the bag his fish was in and tosses it into a nearby trashcan. "Now, will you help me?"

There's not a moment of hesitation in my answer. "Yes." I have to do this.

"Good." He looks down at his watch. "Now, get ready. You have fifty-three seconds until you wake up again."


	36. I’ll Never Be Your Puppet

Chapter 35: I’ll Never Be Your Puppet

**_My enemies belittle me, reminding me the penalty_ **

**_Of all my deeds, despite my pleas, is death_ **

**_Don't let go_ **

**_'Cause I don't wanna be this, I don't wanna be this_ **

**_Death is mine, I know_ **

**_Don't let go, don't let go_ **

**_\- Off With Her Head (Icon for Hire)_ **

When my eyes open again, Jessie’s screaming at the demons, and the very earth I’m lying on is shaking violently with his rage. And the demons are fighting tooth and nail against the Hornets and Brian, and they’re ignoring me… I think that I’ll change that.

I quickly disappear from my spot on the ground to Jessie’s side, my hand squeezing the chair and steadying me as a wave of dizziness runs through me. “You’re alive?”

“Yeah,” I reply and summon a knife to cut through the ropes binding him to the chair. “And I’m not happy about them shooting me.”

He smiles, and I can see the relief in his eyes, making my heart swell with warmth. “I wouldn’t be either…” When he stands up, he turns his gaze back to the fighting, and the cold seeps back into his voice. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“Who has the gun?”

He raises his hand to point at the demon that’s fighting Hoody. “Him.”

“I’ll be right back.”

I disappear again, and the demon’s eyes widen as I stab the summoned knife into its chest. It sparks on the inside, and it’s soul burns out, casting the glow of the fire into the mortal plane. In the next second, I relieve its corpse of the gun and turn it on another demon, the one I spoke to over the phone.

“You’re dead…” she whispers, terror crossing her face, and I wonder how scary I must look to her for a demon who was tortured into existence to look so afraid.

_‘Good…’_

“Apparently not,” I reply and blatantly ignore the swell of egotistical pride that comes from my other personality. “Now, I have a question for you.” Before I can voice it, I notice yet another demon who tries to get close to Jessie, and without a thought, I shoot it and watch as its soul burns out too. “Oh, so this does work!” I know that I don’t have AADD, but anymore, I’ve been acting like it. “Anyway… are you going to answer my question, or do I have to shoot you and move onto the next waste of space?” She nods her head vigorously. “Whose idea was this?”

“Clotho, the fate’s.”

That’s not the answer I was hoping for, but I can’t say that I’m not surprised.

I am surprised, however, when the demon clutches at her throat as if she’s being choked. Blood spills out of her open mouth, and she drops to her knees. The moment her tainted, broken soul is snuffed out, a voice calls out, and I turn around. “Hello, Timothy Wright… I’ve wanted to meet you for quite some time.”

The woman is the spitting image of Atropos, but her eyes are a different color, a poisonous yellow that wouldn’t look out of place on a demon. Her smile is easier than the other fate’s, but it’s just as faked.  “You’re Clotho.”

She nods and chuckles to herself. “Yes, I am.” With a snap of her fingers, one of the few remaining, intact chairs stands up, and she seats herself in it, looking quite pleased with herself and unconcerned by the carnage around her. “I see you’ve made peace with my sister’s puppets.”

“More or less…” I meet Jay’s eyes, and the doll gives me an openly condescending look. “We have an agreement.”

“Right.” Clotho leans back in the chair, looking almost casual if it weren’t for her ridiculously straight posture, and I can tell that she’s trying to make herself appear more friendly. “I’m sorry about the actions of the Leviathans.” Her voice rings with the hollowness of that lie, but I decide not to call her out on it. “I told them not to touch the boy, but they’ve turned out to be surprisingly single-minded… Like a terrier puppy when it’s introduced to a new toy, Edgar just got too excited… And who could blame him, he’s a father!” Her purely delighted voice never sends off its happiness levels to the rest of her face, and it makes for a very disturbing image. “I want you to do something  for me.”

“No.”

She actually does look surprised by my blatant refusal, but after a few beats, she responds. “Then Tobias will be corrupted by Edgar’s influence, and the boy that you met four years ago will never exist again!” She giggles. “But if you help me out, I’ll make sure that you find Tobias at the right time.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I just want to make sure that Edgar dies. The rest of it will take care of itself.”

“So that’s it?”

“Yes.” At first, I think that she’s still lying, but then she drops a piece of paper with a legitimate address on it, and the paper reemerges over in my hand. “Tobias is there, and so is Edgar…. You need to choose: do you blindly follow your leaders, or do you turn your back on those that would keep you from the things that you want back?”


	37. I Wonder if I Deserve This

Chapter 36: I Wonder if I Deserve This

**_I'm so sick,_ **

**_Infected with where I live_ **

**_Let me live without this_ **

**_Empty bliss,_ **

**_Selfishness_ **

**_I'm so sick_ **

**_-I'm So Sick (Flyleaf)_ **

1467 St. Ashford Street: this is the place where the leviathans have taken Toby and are hiding out.

St. Ashford Street doesn't have the best of history, and most people stay far away from the small street that was more or less dominated by a factory and its warehouses about forty years ago. Then a bunch of accidents started occurring on the property, and some superstitious people believed that the land was haunted. People fell from walkways into vats of molten metal. Someone lost their entire lower half to a cutting machine. Another three committed suicide by hanging themselves in the largest of the warehouses, Number Seven.

Number Seven is the last building standing on St. Ashford Street.

I had forgotten about this place, because it's just so unassuming, even if it has been abandoned.

A crow lands on the branch over my head, cawing in triumph at the squirming worm in its mouth. It drops the poor creature into the nest where its children quickly begin to start chirping; they must be older as they tear apart the bug without the assistance of their mother… I feel like that worm right now.

The oily presence of my other personality reminds me that I'm not so helpless, and I'm remember the scythe that's now at my beck and call. I sigh and summon it into existence, feeling surprised at the ease to which it comes. It's as if it had been mine all of my life, and after a small time apart, I had brought it back to me… It feels like my powers, the ones that my mother had denied me.

I can feel discontent and worry behind me, from the others as they look between the blade in my hands and the leviathans who are suddenly appearing in every corner of this place: in the windows, in doorways, from the few sprawling trees as they shapeshift out of the form of birds into more human creations. It occurs to me that any of these creatures could be Toby, but… None of them feel like him.

"I have to find Toby," I tell the others. "I don't care if you fight them too, just don't get hurt… Any of you."

Both Jesse and Brian seem put off by this remark, but they both know that I don't mean it to be cruel. They both nod at me, and that's all the reassurance I need to leave them behind. I have no doubts that Zalgo and Slender will be here soon enough… I'm certain that the others will follow, as will Atropos and Clotho, and before they can get here, the last two, I have to find Toby and make sure that he's safe. It's a compulsion now… Maybe it always was… I've always been a bit overprotective, but…

_'They took our family.'_

Family… That is a good bubble for them… Not the hornets, as much as I wish it was, or Slender and the fates… No, Toby is family, and so is Brian and Jesse… LJ too…

 _'We will find the clown as well… But Toby must be found first.'_ I can't help but agree with my other personality…

I have to make it to the warehouse, now, and so I teleport, for lack of a better word, to the closest point I can manage, and I know that they have runes around it to keep out even my kind, and angels as well…

One takes on the form of a sea creature of sorts and lashes out at me with long, blackened tentacles as another tries to get behind me. He, the one behind, tries to impale me on his bloody hand, and I catch it with the edge of the scythe blade. It slices clean through, and both it and the octopus thing freeze.

The next swing of Death's scythe cuts into the neck of that leviathan, and pure panic enters its eyes as it dies on this plane. The octopus lets out a shrill scream , and the leviathans take on another form. They're determined but afraid, and I look up at the window on the third floor, and see Edgar there. There's a man beside him with an all to familiar box; Laughing Jack.

"I really don't have time for this, so would you kindly get out of my way?"

"You have to die, cambian… We're keeping the infant."

A disturbing creature with the face of Clockwork speaks then, and a vicious smile slowly crawls onto my face. "That's really not the best form to take around me…"

"Why not?"

"He hates Clockwork!"

A stream of basic-smelling water sprays out onto the crowd around me, and I, recognizing that voice as Brian's, call back, "what the hell are you spraying?"

"Borax," he dutifully replies. "According to the Winchesters, it hurts low level leviathans… But it's not a permanent solution."

True to Brian's words, the crowd clutches to their stinging, burning faces, but it doesn't seem to be doing any lasting damage. There's only one natural progression, and I spray myself and the ground with their oily blood. "Bri," I whisper, and my life-long friend falls into step beside me. "You shouldn't have followed."

"You shouldn't have to do this alone."

"I'm not alone," I reply. "I've never been alone, Bri, and I'll never be again… But, I can do this. I have to do this."

"But you don't have to do it alone. You have a choice, Tim!"

I know that he meant for me to think it through, but that phrase does little for me beyond reminding me of my conversation with death. "I'm well aware of that…" I look up at the window, realizing that Edgar and Isaac have disappeared sight. "I want you to protect Jesse for me… And Toby too, if something happens. Can you do that for me?"

"Course… But nothing's going to happen!"

I offer him a reassuring smile. "Of course not." I'm not so sure of my own affirmation though, and he shouldn't be either. I don't give him a chance to say anything else though, and I disappear into the warehouse.

* * *

There's blood, black and red, splattered onto the floors like someone had a demented splatter party. The splatters have no disconcernable pattern, and so I turn my eyes away and onto the forms hiding in the darkness. There are leviathans, cowering away from me and hoping that I won't notice them, but I just don't care. No one steps out to intercept me, and so I ascend the stairs without contest.

For a little while, I hear nothing, but on the third floor, the one where I had seen Edgar earlier, I catch the barest hint of growling. There's a teenage voice, and my heart breaks. Toby's up here, in the door in the middle of the floor on the left. I stop outside of the room, fury and fear running through me in equal proportions as I hear Toby start screaming and… roaring at Edgar like a wild animal. I'm transfixed, in the doorway, as my friend begins to lash out at the head of the leviathans…


	38. Perhaps I Do

Chapter 37: Perhaps I Do…

**_You are the sun that holds my dreams,_ **

**_Can you save me, set me free?_ **

**_You are my sanctuary._ **

**_-The Sanctuary (Darling Violetta)_ **

_I stop outside of the room, fury and fear running through me in equal proportions as I hear Toby screaming and… roaring at Edgar like a wild animal. I'm transfixed, in the doorway, as my friend begins to lash out at the head of the leviathans…_

* * *

'I need to help him,' I think, but a moment later, I resend that thought. His suddenly golden eyes turn towards me, and a small spike of fear nearly renders me useless. There's a raw hunger inside of them, a primal desire that screams of danger to all who is caught in it. And I force myself to smile at him. "Toby, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Yes, he will," Edgar growls in that weirdly commanding tone, and Toby snarls at the man.

"You know I won't."

"Masky…" he whispers, his inhuman mouth forming strange shapes in his attempts to make the words. "I… Tim…"

"Toby… Close your eyes… Remember you aren't a leviathan!"

"Yes, I am…" He opens his eyes again and rounds on Edgar. "I'm a leviathan… I never wanted to be one!" His claws click upon the cement ground, and his tail bristles and swishes. "This is all your fault!"

He leaps at the leviathan that's currently in a wolf's form, and he almost… flickers out of existence. The air tastes of electricity and feels like it's charged… He's moving forth dimensionally, like Slender does… Well, that's kind of cool; I want to do that! His teeth bite into the wolf-like Edgar's back, tearing though his flesh and painting the floor in black splatters.

Edgar screeches and shifts into something more snake-like so he can bite Toby back. "Change, Toby!" I cry and try to grab the older leviathan with my biokinesis, but it doesn't work; he's immune to that power…

_'That's peculiar.'_

'Not the time.'

_'What are you talking about, other me? The leviathan has-'_

"I c-can't!" he cries, cutting my other personality off, and he lets go of Edgar to swipe at the older creature's eyes. "I don't know how!"

"Then eat him!"

The scythe comes to my call again, and I launch at the shifter to even out the fight. I don't expect to miss though, and I end up crashing into the ground beside Toby who had taken the opportunity to get away from Edgar. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"Fine," I reply and realize that the scythe is across the room. "Are you okay?"

"No," he murmurs back, and I realize that he's limping and that his left front paw is shedding black blood all over the ground and so is his side.

"Does it hurt?" I ask, worried that he can actually feel this, and he gives me the wolf equivalent of a 'are you stupid' look. "Sorry, dumb question."

"Cambian," Edgar hisses, and Toby and I have to jump apart to get away from the older leviathan's next attack. I half expect him to continue to go after my friend, but there are teeth grating into my arm, the one that held Death's scythe. He turns into a human shape, but unfortunately, his inhuman strength remains. "How dare you intervene? He is my child; you have no reason to come here!" He's not paying attention to Toby though, and that kind of explains the surprised look on his face when he's tackled off of me.

"You kidnapped me, you asshole!" Toby tears at his throat, biting and biting until he severs Edgar's head from his body. I expect him to stop there, but apparently, I underestimated the hunger from earlier. He growls at me when I take a step forward, and so I stand there and watch as he eats from the trunk of the leviathan's body while Edgar's head stares at him. Edgar starts yelling at him to stop, but he won't. He doesn't stop until there's nothing but Edgar's head left.

"You don't want to eat me," he says, but Toby isn't listening. The teenager advances on the last part of his body, and just as the wolf goes to bite into him, he imparts one final piece of knowledge. "If you eat me, you'll be the leader of the leviathans."

With that, Edgar's gone, and Toby's sitting in the middle of a bloody room, no longer bleeding from his earlier wounds. He turns his head towards me, and his golden eyes glow with something akin to rage and sadness. With the source of his aggravation gone, I decide to walk up to him, and he doesn't move, even when I'm right in front of him. "Toby," I murmur and reach down to pet his head, like I would Growley when she appears depressed. "Would you let me try to change you back?"

"What?" He blinks up at me. "You can do that?"

"I'm not sure if I can," I answer honestly. "But I can try… I might be able to make you assume your normal form. It might not work though, so-"

"Okay!"

He doesn't look afraid, but then again, he's so good at hiding it behind bravado; it's almost like a superpower. 'He trusts us so easily… silly child. If I was in control-'

"Close your eyes," I tell him and pointedly ignore the dark whispering from my other half. "This may feel weird." I bring forth a picture of my friend, of the teenager that liked to crawl into my bed during a nightmare and couldn't feel the pain when I'd accidentally hug him too tightly. The fur beneath my hand slowly becomes softer, silkier, and I open my eyes to the image that I had brought forth. "Toby?" Beautiful, ocean blue eyes pear up at me through shaggy brown hair, and I catch a glimpse of a relieved, sharp-toothed smile. Then I suddenly have an armful of psychotic teenager, and I realize that he's covered in leviathan blood. "You're one messy eater."

He laughs and clings to me harder, and I tuck his head under my chin and breathe a sigh of relief that he's safe, that I didn't fail him. "Thank you for coming for me…"

"As if I'd leave you behind…" I let go of him then and summon the scythe once more. "We have to go, though… The others are outside."


	39. There's Always a Choice…

Chapter 38: There's Always a Choice…

**_"Do you believe in God?"_ **

**_Written on the bullet_ **

**_Say "Yes" to pull the trigger_ **

**_"Do you believe in God?"_ **

**_Written on the bullet_ **

**_And Cassie pulled the trigger_ **

**_How many will die?_ **

**_I will die_ **

**_I, I will say "Yes"_ **

**_-Cassie (Flyleaf)_ **

Atropos and Clotho are screaming at one another when Toby and I finally make our way back out of the warehouse, and Toby flinches at every word that leaves their mouths. It takes me a moment to realize why as they're arguing about the outcome and not him specifically. He shakes and twitches so violently that I have to reach out and steady him before he trips himself or knocks me over.

But even I have trouble not falling to my knees and covering up my ears when their pitches rise again and again and the language switches multiple times before settling on Enochian. I look over at my friend and am relieved to find that the language of the angels seems to have no effect on him, but then again, leviathans can kill angels…

When I see my other friends, and the people who I had once thought to be friends, clutching to their heads, I can't stop myself from screaming, "Why can't you just shut up?!" The windows of the warehouse shatter behind me, and the very ground trembles with my anger. Their words become lodged in their throats, and the fates turn to look at me. "Why are you two always fighting?"

Atropos is the first of them to speak again, widened eyes giving away her surprise. "Where did you get that from?"

It takes me a moment to realize what they're talking about: the scythe that hums with dark power and glints in the man-made light. "Your father," I reply, and a part of me shivers with the thrill of their worried expressions. "Death's annoyed by your petty squabbling."

"He gave us our mission!"

"No. He gave you an ultimatum, a punishment because none of you would perform your purpose! If you had just worked together, none of you would have had to die!" I realize then that I'm trembling, and I force myself to take a few deep breaths. "You did this to yourselves… and then you had to drag all of us into your bullshit, sibling rivalry! So why the hell should I ever help you?!"

Their staring melts away into curious expressions. "Timothy," Atropos stage-whispers, a condescending edge to her tone. "I brought you back your friends."

I can hear Alex and Jay scoffing, and I want to laugh, because she has to know that I know already. The jig is up. "The Hornets aren't my friends. They're dolls that you created."

"I gave you back Toby."

My eyes narrow, and I turn my gaze to Clotho. "You let the leviathans take him in the first place!" All around me the beings that had known Atropos on a rather personal note seem so affronted by my very tone that I'm surprised that I don't have a knife sticking out of my back. Even Laughing Jack, who I am relieve to find outside of his music box, scowls at me. "You guys may be the reason why I exist, but that doesn't mean that you can make me work for either of you!"

They share a look, a cold and venomous look that sends shivers down my spine, and together they speak, forming a singular voice like the movies always said a possessed human would sound. "Well, how about we kill everyone if you don't help one of us?" II wasn't expecting that ultimatum. "It isn't above our power, Timothy Wright." Toby goes on edge beside me, snarling at the women, and I lay a hand on his arm to stop him from launching at them. "Come on, you have a choice to make here."

Yeah, I do, but I made the choice a while ago.


	40. And There's Always a Consiquence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter. Who hates me before they've started reading?

Chapter 39: And There's Always a Consequence

This is my choice… I've made up my mind…

I look at Toby and offer him a smile. "It'll be okay," I whisper, and his eyes widen. "Take care of Brian and LJ for me."

"Tim?!"

Slicing my own throat hadn't occurred to me before, but then again, I don't think there's a blade on the planet that would have cut it as easily as Death's scythe. It doesn't even hurt… I want to laugh… I drop to my knees, and Toby wraps his arms around me. Brian clutches to my shoulder… They're both crying, and they won't stop. Don't they realize that everything's going to be alright? This is just how it has to be… for them…

In my final moments, I meet Jay's eyes, and the doll mouths 'thank you.' He acts like I did this for him… No… This was for Brian and Toby. If I'm gone, then no one can ever use me against them again…

* * *

A hand cards through my hair, a gentle touch that I haven't felt in years. A woman hums softly, a lullaby that sounds so familiar. Did my mother sing it when I was younger? When my eyes open again, the sun blinds me, and I blink rapidly and throw an arm over my face. "Why is it so sunny?"

"Because the sun's nice, Timothy."

That voice… I open my eyes once again and turn my head to the right to see a smaller silhouette with a wreathe of auburn hair. A wedding ring glints in the sunlight, casting little dots of light upon her skin, and her very being tingles with magic… "Mom?"

"Yes, Timothy?"

I sigh contently and reach up to grab the hem of her dress, relief flooding me. "So, I'm finally dead?"

"Mmhmm…"

"Why aren't you in heaven?"

"How do you know that you're not?" I give her a flat look, and her amusement grows. "Alright, we're in purgatory."

"But… you're a human."

She laughs then and presses a kiss to my hand. "I stayed her for you… Death owed me a favor, since he asked me to give birth to you."

That's new information. "He asked you?"

"Mmhmm… and he made this place for us."

* * *

This place, as it turns out, is a brick cottage on the edge of purgatory's forest, where the monsters live. It's a single story building with three bedrooms, one for her and one for me, and one for whoever may come to live with us later. In the mornings, I cook us both breakfast and we sit on the front porch in companionable silence. After lunch, I tend to go swimming in the pond behind our house or read a book in the library. Other times, Death comes to see us, and he and I sit and talk for a while, while my mother gardens.

"Will my friends be allowed to live with us when they die?" I ask, and Death smiles, the expression true and lively.

"Well, Tobias will most certainly since all leviathans must return here, and I will allow the others if they would like."

"Really?"

"Of course. You did me a favor, and I always repay my debts."

Purgatory is a small place, really, but it's quiet and always sunny in the morning and clear in the night. And there's a book that dictates a tentative date for every person's death…

Brian Thomas: 2020

Tobias Rogers: 2032

Jesse Turner: 2063

Laughing Jack: 2140

I can't wait…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's the end. I hope you enjoyed it... Um, please don't hate me.
> 
> I might rewrite this last chapter cause I kind of don't like how abrupt I made it but I like it anyway. You know?
> 
> Well, byebye!


End file.
